The nation’s three major telecoms have all secured 5G licenses after the National Communications Commission (NCC) yesterday approved Taiwan Mobile’s application.
The NCC granted 5G licenses to Chunghwa Telecom on June 3 and to Far EasTone Telecommunications on June 6.
The two plan to launch 5G services next month and have 3,000 cell stations built nationwide by the end of this year, the NCC said.
Taiwan Mobile originally planned to have 2,000 cell stations built by the end of this year, but it later changed its business plan and increased the number to 4,000, NCC spokesperson Hsiao Chi-hung (蕭祈宏) said.
“This highlights the competition among telecoms. Apparently, all of them are ready to launch services in the third quarter of this year,” Hsiao said.
5G service is expected to be the focus of Taiwan Mobile’s shareholders’ meeting today, market analysts said.
The commission also approved Asia Pacific Telecom’s 5G service business plan using the 28 gigahertz (GHz) frequency band, but said it still needs to have its information security plan approved before it can start building cell stations.
The three major telecoms would use the 3.5GHz frequency band, which can be accessed by the general public, Hsiao said.
The 5G service on the 28GHz frequency band is mainly used in business-to-business applications, he said.
To offer 5G service to the general public, Asia Pacific Telecom plans to lease 5G networks built by other telecoms, Hsiao said.
“The commission can only approve such a partnership after the Telecommunications Management Act (電信管理法) is implemented next month,” he said, adding that Asia Pacific Telecom would resubmit a business plan on how it plans to lease the networks of other carriers to offer 5G service.
The commission said it would review Taiwan Star’s information security plan next week.
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