The number of telecom accounts in Taiwan that have switched to 5G has surpassed 10 million, data from the National Communications Commission (NCC) showed.
As of the end of November last year, the most recent update on 5G usage, 33.7 percent of telecommunications accounts had begun using 5G data, accounting for more than 10 million numbers, the data showed.
In terms of market share of the major telecom players, Chunghwa Telecom had 3.88 million 5G accounts, or 38.8 percent of the total, while Taiwan Mobile had 3.13 million 5G accounts, or a 31.3 percent share, and Far EasTone had 2.99 million 5G accounts, or a 29.9 percent share, the commission said.
Photo: CNA
Commission data showed that the biggest spike in new 5G accounts between January and November last year came in May, when 182,000 new numbers subscribed to the service.
The commission said the spike could have been a result of Taiwan terminating 3G services at the end of June, and the exiting of Singapore’s telecom service, Circles.Life, from Taiwan’s market in July.
The launch of various Apple iPhone 16 smartphone models in September also contributed to boosting 5G adoption between September and November, when an average of 160,000 new subscribers signed up each month, it added.
With the increase of 5G users contributing positively to the average revenue per user for Taiwan’s telecom companies, the average revenue per user in the third quarter of last year was NT$478.7 (US$14.52), a NT$1.5 increase from the previous quarter, commission data showed.
The number of accounts still using the slower 4G in Taiwan continued to decline.
The commission said the number of 4G accounts in Taiwan fell to less than 20 million for the first time in October.
While the amount of 4G numbers fell to about 19.69 million in its latest calculation, it was still nearly double the total of 5G users, the commission added.
In terms of revenue, Taiwan’s telecommunications services generated NT$42.72 billion in the third quarter of last year, NT$210 million more than in the second quarter.
Of that, NT$36.51 billion came from telecommunications accounts under monthly plans, the commission said.
Taiwan has received more than US$70 million in royalties as of the end of last year from developing the F-16V jet as countries worldwide purchase or upgrade to this popular model, government and military officials said on Saturday. Taiwan funded the development of the F-16V jet and ended up the sole investor as other countries withdrew from the program. Now the F-16V is increasingly popular and countries must pay Taiwan a percentage in royalties when they purchase new F-16V aircraft or upgrade older F-16 models. The next five years are expected to be the peak for these royalties, with Taiwan potentially earning
STAY IN YOUR LANE: As the US and Israel attack Iran, the ministry has warned China not to overstep by including Taiwanese citizens in its evacuation orders The Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) yesterday rebuked a statement by China’s embassy in Israel that it would evacuate Taiwanese holders of Chinese travel documents from Israel amid the latter’s escalating conflict with Iran. Tensions have risen across the Middle East in the wake of US and Israeli airstrikes on Iran beginning Saturday. China subsequently issued an evacuation notice for its citizens. In a news release, the Chinese embassy in Israel said holders of “Taiwan compatriot permits (台胞證)” issued to Taiwanese nationals by Chinese authorities for travel to China — could register for evacuation to Egypt. In Taipei, the ministry yesterday said Taiwan
Taiwan is awaiting official notification from the US regarding the status of the Agreement on Reciprocal Trade (ART) after the US Supreme Court ruled US President Donald Trump's global tariffs unconstitutional. Speaking to reporters before a legislative hearing today, Premier Cho Jung-tai (卓榮泰) said that Taiwan's negotiation team remains focused on ensuring that the bilateral trade deal remains intact despite the legal challenge to Trump's tariff policy. "The US has pledged to notify its trade partners once the subsequent administrative and legal processes are finalized, and that certainly includes Taiwan," Cho said when asked about opposition parties’ doubts that the ART was
If China chose to invade Taiwan tomorrow, it would only have to sever three undersea fiber-optic cable clusters to cause a data blackout, Jason Hsu (許毓仁), a senior fellow at the Hudson Institute and former Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) legislator, told a US security panel yesterday. In a Taiwan contingency, cable disruption would be one of the earliest preinvasion actions and the signal that escalation had begun, he said, adding that Taiwan’s current cable repair capabilities are insufficient. The US-China Economic and Security Review Commission (USCC) yesterday held a hearing on US-China Competition Under the Sea, with Hsu speaking on
RSS