Around 4 million mobile phone users are thinking of switching telecommunications operators once a policy making mobile numbers portable starts in October, which might trigger a wave of rate-slashing by competitors, according to a survey released yesterday.
"Number portability" will allow mobile users to switch service providers without needing to change their phone number, as is currently required.
The nation has nearly 19 million cellphone subscribers, with a penetration rate of around 100 percent.
"The implementation of phone-number portability is expected to tip the current terror balance maintained by the three major players, and I expect around 15 to 20 percent of users will be like nomads chasing after lower rates. Loyalty is not something you can expect from them," said Mao Chi-kuo (
Mao made the comment at a press conference held by the Chinese-language weekly Business Today (今周刊) yesterday, after the government said that state-controlled Chunghwa Telecom had been privatized following its American Depositary Receipts (ADRs) sale.
The nation's telecom industry has reached saturation with the three major players -- Chunghwa Telecom, Taiwan Mobile Co (台灣大哥大) and Far EasTone Telecommunications Co (遠傳電信) -- well-matched in strength.
However, the survey released by the local weekly showed that around 30 percent of the 1,105 respondents polled were dissatisfied with the phone rates offered by the three operators, with Chunghwa Telecom's subscribers topping the list at 33.72 percent.
More than 15 percent of Far EasTone users said the company needs to improve phone service quality, while 10 percent of Chunghwa Telecom's subscribers are unhappy with customer service, the survey said.
These factors might become the catalyst for large-scale subscriber migration in October, the report suggested.
Andy Liang (梁永煌), president of the weekly, said that after a number portability measure was implemented in Hong Kong in March 1999, it sparked fierce competition between the territory's six telecom operators, with rates slashed by a whopping 70 percent, and average revenue per unit (ARPU) sliding by 44 percent.
Whether Taiwan's telecom carriers will follow in the footsteps of their Hong Kong counterparts remains to be seen, Mao said.
Mao added that operators must strengthen their content for the data-oriented third-generation (3G) mobile technology and promote high-speed services because 83 percent of survey respondents said they do not know what 3G is.
A total of five telecom carriers will compete in the 3G market.
Only 10 percent of mobile subscribers know that 3G-capable handsets allow them to make video phone calls, the survey said.
Vincent Wu (吳豐祥), associate professor of the Graduate Institute of Technology and Innovation Management at National Chengchi University, suggested that carriers invent "killer applications" and single out a target customer base, such as businesspeople and lovers who prefer making video phone calls, to promote 3G services.
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