People ringing family and friends overseas will soon find their phone bills dropping fast thanks to Chunghwa Telecom Co (
A day after Chunghwa announced it would implement new long distance and international calling rates up to 57 percent lower than current fares, Taiwan's three new fixed-line telecom companies said they would undercut Chunghwa by up to 10 percent in every pricing category.
"We'll be applying to lower our calling rate soon, but we have not yet determined the best possible pricing structure. ... The final rate will probably be five to 10 percent lower than [Chunghwa's]," said Chou Hen-wu (
Chou explained the lower rate would mirror every aspect of Chunghwa's new pricing structure, making calls to China up to 67 percent lower and calls to Hong Kong, Canada and the US up to 64 percent lower than current fares.
The nation's two other fixed line firms, Taiwan Fixed Line Network Co (
All four companies must gain approval from the Directorate General of Telecommunication under the Ministry of Transportation and Communications in order to change their calling rates.
Chunghwa's new rate cut will take effect April 1, while only one of the new fixed-line companies, Eastern Broadband, has formalized its April 6 launch date.
Eastern Broadband was the first to sign an interconnection agreement with Chunghwa, necessary to allow calls between Chunghwa's network and Eastern Broadband's system.
Since Chunghwa owns the nation's entire fixed-line telephone network, all new firms have to sign an interconnection agreement in order to gain access to customers.
Officials from New Century and Taiwan Network said yesterday they have signed agreements with Chunghwa but are still testing their systems. Both firms expect to launch services around mid-April.
The three new companies are already signing up customers for international and local long-distance calling. People need only contact one of the companies and sign a billing agreement in order to take advantage of the lower rates.
One analyst said that the rate cuts would be good for customers, but not so good for Chunghwa Telecom's bottom line.
The state-run giant has maintained high long-distance calling prices -- and generated high profits -- for years, and the current reductions are only bringing prices down to "reasonable levels" compared to other countries around the world.
REMINDER: Of the 6.78 million doses of flu vaccine Taiwan purchased for this flu season, about 200,000 are still available, an official said, following Big S’ death As news broke of the death of Taiwanese actress and singer Barbie Hsu (徐熙媛), also known as Big S (大S), from severe flu complications, the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) and doctors yesterday urged people at high risk to get vaccinated and be alert to signs of severe illness. Hsu’s family yesterday confirmed that the actress died on a family holiday in Japan due to pneumonia during the Lunar New Year holiday. CDC Deputy Director-General Tseng Shu-hui (曾淑慧) told an impromptu news conference that hospital visits for flu-like illnesses from Jan. 19 to Jan. 25 reached 162,352 — the highest
COMBINING FORCES: The 66th Marine Brigade would support the 202nd Military Police Command in its defense of Taipei against ‘decapitation strikes,’ a source said The Marine Corps has deployed more than 100 soldiers and officers of the 66th Marine Brigade to Taipei International Airport (Songshan airport) as part of an effort to bolster defenses around the capital, a source with knowledge of the matter said yesterday. Two weeks ago, a military source said that the Ministry of National Defense ordered the Marine Corps to increase soldier deployments in the Taipei area. The 66th Marine Brigade has been tasked with protecting key areas in Taipei, with the 202nd Military Police Command also continuing to defend the capital. That came after a 2017 decision by the ministry to station
TRIP TO TAIWAN: The resumption of group tours from China should be discussed between the two agencies tasked with handling cross-strait tourism, the MAC said President William Lai (賴清德) yesterday reassured China-based businesspeople that he would follow former president Tsai Ing-wen’s (蔡英文) cross-strait policy to facilitate healthy and orderly exchanges with Beijing and build a resilient economy. “As president, I have three missions. First, I will follow president Tsai’s ‘four commitments’ to ensure that the country continues to exist and survive,” Lai told participants at a Lunar New Year event in Taipei hosted by the Straits Exchange Foundation (SEF). Lai said his second mission is to uphold the “four pillars of peace” by bolstering national defense, developing a growing and resilient economy, building partnerships with
‘INVESTMENT’: Rubio and Arevalo said they discussed the value of democracy, and Rubio thanked the president for Guatemala’s strong diplomatic relationship with Taiwan Guatemalan President Bernardo Arevalo met with US Secretary of State Marco Rubio in Guatemala City on Wednesday where they signed a deal for Guatemala to accept migrants deported from the US, while Rubio commended Guatemala for its support for Taiwan and said the US would do all it can to facilitate greater Taiwanese investment in Guatemala. Under the migrant agreement announced by Arevalo, the deportees would be returned to their home countries at US expense. It is the second deportation deal that Rubio has reached during a Central America trip that has been focused mainly on immigration. Arevalo said his