Chunghwa Telecom Co, the nation’s largest telecom operator, has introduced new public telephones that accept stored-value cards.
About 80 of the new phones, which accept EasyCard, iPass, iCash and Taiwan Easy Go in addition to coins and credit cards, have been installed since last month, the company said.
Chunghwa Telecom said it plans to install 750 of the new phones by the end of this month, mainly at airports, railway stations, bus terminals and convenience stores.
The phones are part of the company’s network of more than 17,000 public phones, 24 percent of which already accept credit cards fitted with a chip.
The company said it expects the expanded payment options to boost use of public phones, which generated NT$300 million (US$9.22 million) in revenue last year, 8.3 percent less than a year earlier.
That makes up just a small portion of the company’s full revenue, which grew 2.3 percent year-on-year to a record NT$231.79 billion last year, while its pre-tax net profit reached NT$51.99 billion.
Public phones in hospitals, transportation hubs and military bases are among those that see more frequent use, the company said.
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