The first phase of the nation’s first 5G auction ended yesterday after 27 days and 261 rounds of bidding, with the total bids topping NT$138.08 billion (US$4.61 billion), the National Communications Commission (NCC) said.
The amount, which was about 4.6 times more than the floor price, was the world’s third-highest, the commission said.
Italy raised 6.55 billion euros (US$7.31 billion) in its first 5G auction in 2018 and Germany obtained 6.5 billion euros in its auction last year, it said.
Photo: AP
The frequency bands on auction were 1.8 gigahertz (GHz), 3.5GHz and 28GHz.
However, all of the telecoms targeted the 3.5GHz frequency band, of which a total of 270 megahertz (MHz) of bandwidth was placed on auction. The floor price for bandwidth in the 3.5GHz band was NT$24.3 billion.
Chunghwa Telecom (中華電信) secured 90MHz of bandwidth in the 3.5GHz band, followed by Far EasTone Telecommunications (遠傳電信) with 80MHz. Taiwan Mobile (台灣大哥大), Taiwan’s second-largest telecom, only secured 60MHz of bandwidth in the band and Taiwan Star Telecom (台灣之星) obtained 40MHz.
Asia Pacific Telecom (亞太電信) yesterday withdrew its bid for bandwidth in the band.
Bids for 3.5GHz bandwidth totaled NT$136.43 billion.
There was a total of 2.5GHz of bandwidth available in the 28GHz frequency band, but carriers only bid for 1.6GHz.
Chunghwa Telecom secured 600MHz and Taiwan Mobile obtained 200MHz, while Far EasTone and Asia Pacific Telecom garnered 400MHz each. Taiwan Star did not bid for the bandwidth in this frequency band.
Bids for bandwidth in the 28GHz frequency band totaled NT$1.65 billion.
The 1.8GHz frequency band failed to attract any bids, the commission said.
All five carriers are to participate in the second phase of the auction on Feb. 21, when they would negotiate for their preferred portions of the frequency bands in the morning, it said.
Should they fail to reach an agreement, they would enter one final round of bidding in the afternoon before the auction is concluded, it added.
The bids far exceeded the projected goals set by the Executive Yuan and the Legislative Yuan of NT$40 billion and NT$44 billion respectively, NCC Acting Chairman Chen Yaw-shyang (陳耀祥) said.
However, the government has administrative measures to ensure that consumers enjoy “high-quality and affordable” 5G services, he said.
The Cabinet would hold an interdepartmental meeting to discuss the distribution of the excess proceeds from the auction, such as upgrading telecom infrastructure and developing innovative services, he added.
Asked about Asia Pacific Telecom withdrawing its bid for 3.5GHz bandwidth, which allowed the first phase to end yesterday, Chen said that the commission respects the company’s decisions, adding that telecoms would be able to flexibly form partnerships with each other after the agency starts enforcing the Telecommunications Management Act (電信管理法) in July.
The act, which was promulgated by President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) in June last year, only states the principle that resources should be used efficiently and that there is fair competition in the telecom service market, NCC Department of Platforms and Businesses Director Wang De-wei (王德威) said.
Under this principle, telecoms are allowed to share their frequency spectrum or lease it from other carriers, Wang said, adding that they must first indicate such details in their business plans.
After the auction is concluded next month, telecoms that secure 5G frequency spectrum can choose to make a one-time payment for their bids or pay in installments over five years, the commission said, adding that they would be allowed to start offering 5G services only after their business plans and service networks receive its approval.
The Ministry of Transportation and Communications yesterday inaugurated the Danjiang Bridge across the Tamsui River in New Taipei City, saying that the structure would be an architectural icon and traffic artery for Taiwan. Feted as a major engineering achievement, the Danjiang Bridge is 920m long, 211m tall at the top of its pylon, and is the longest single-pylon asymmetric cable-stayed bridge in the world, the government’s Web site for the structure said. It was designed by late Iraqi-British architect Zaha Hadid. The structure, with a maximum deck of 70m, accommodates road and light rail traffic, and affords a 200m navigation channel for boats,
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電), the world’s largest foundry service provider, yesterday said that global semiconductor revenue is projected to hit US$1.5 trillion in 2030, after the figure exceeds US$1 trillion this year, as artificial intelligence (AI) demand boosts consumption of token and compute power. “We are still at the beginning of the AI revolution, but we already see a significant impact across the whole semiconductor ecosystem,” TSMC deputy cochief operating officer Kevin Zhang (張曉強) said at the company’s annual technology symposium in Hsinchu City. “It is fair to say that in the past decade, smartphones and other mobile devices were
US-CHINA SUMMIT: MOFA welcomed US reassurance of no change in its Taiwan policy; Trump said he did not comment when Xi talked of opposing independence US President Donald Trump yesterday said he has not made a decision on whether to move forward with a major arms package for Taiwan after hearing concerns about it from Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平). Trump’s comments on Taiwan came as he flew back to Washington after wrapping up critical talks in which both leaders said important progress was made in stabilizing US-China relations even as deep differences persist between the world’s two biggest powers on Iran and Taiwan. “I will make a determination,” Trump said, adding: “I’ll be making decisions. But, you know, I think the last thing we need right
TAIWAN ISSUE: US treasury secretary Scott Bessent said on the first day of meetings that ‘it wouldn’t be a US-China summit without the Taiwan issue coming up’ There were no surprises on the first day of the summit between US President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平), the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) said yesterday, as the government reiterated that cross-strait stability is crucial to the Asia-Pacific region, as well as the world. As the two presidents met for a highly anticipated summit yesterday, Chinese state media reported that Xi warned Trump that missteps regarding Taiwan could push their two countries into “conflict.” Trump arrived in China with accolades for his host, calling Xi a “great leader” and “friend,” and extending an invitation to visit the White House
RSS