Taiwan Ratings Corp (中華信評) yesterday affirmed its twA+ long-term corporate credit rating and twA-1 short-term credit rating for both Far EasTone Telecommunications Co (遠傳電信) and Taiwan Cellular Corp (台灣大哥大), the rating agency said in separate statements.
The outlook on these two companies' long-term ratings is stable, Taiwan Ratings, the local arm of Standard & Poor's Ratings Service, added in the statements.
Taiwan Ratings said the rating for Taiwan Cellular reflects the company's leading position in the nation's mobile telephony market, its good operating margins, stable cash flow and satisfactory financial profile.
Taiwan's wireless telecommunications market has experienced significant consolidation.
In July 2001, Taiwan Cellular acquired southern-based operator Trans Asia Telecommunications (
That figure compares with the 35 percent share that state-owned Chunghwa Telecom Co (
In April 2004, Far EasTone completed the acquisition of KG Telecommunications.
Taiwan Ratings expects the consolidation trend will help Taiwan Cellular maintain its leading market position amid less acute competition in terms of tariff rates and handset subsidies.
However, since the penetration rate in Taiwan's wireless telecommunications market exceeds 100 percent, Taiwan Ratings expects the market growth rate to fall below 10 percent over the next two to three years.
Taiwan Cellular has changed its investment policy as regards its shareholdings in Chunghwa Telecom. Taiwan Cellular, together with TransAsia, sold 122 million shares in Chunghwa Telecom in January, leaving it with a stake of 312.57 million shares in its major competitor.
PROTECTION: The investigation, which takes aim at exporters such as Canada, Germany and Brazil, came days after Trump unveiled tariff hikes on steel and aluminum products US President Donald Trump on Saturday ordered a probe into potential tariffs on lumber imports — a move threatening to stoke trade tensions — while also pushing for a domestic supply boost. Trump signed an executive order instructing US Secretary of Commerce Howard Lutnick to begin an investigation “to determine the effects on the national security of imports of timber, lumber and their derivative products.” The study might result in new tariffs being imposed, which would pile on top of existing levies. The investigation takes aim at exporters like Canada, Germany and Brazil, with White House officials earlier accusing these economies of
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) would not produce its most advanced technologies in the US next year, Minister of Economic Affairs J.W. Kuo (郭智輝) said yesterday. Kuo made the comment during an appearance at the legislature, hours after the chipmaker announced that it would invest an additional US$100 billion to expand its manufacturing operations in the US. Asked by Taiwan People’s Party Legislator-at-large Chang Chi-kai (張啟楷) if TSMC would allow its most advanced technologies, the yet-to-be-released 2-nanometer and 1.6-nanometer processes, to go to the US in the near term, Kuo denied it. TSMC recently opened its first US factory, which produces 4-nanometer
Teleperformance SE, the largest call-center operator in the world, is rolling out an artificial intelligence (AI) system that softens English-speaking Indian workers’ accents in real time in a move the company claims would make them more understandable. The technology, called accent translation, coupled with background noise cancelation, is being deployed in call centers in India, where workers provide customer support to some of Teleperformance’s international clients. The company provides outsourced customer support and content moderation to global companies including Apple Inc, ByteDance Ltd’s (字節跳動) TikTok and Samsung Electronics Co Ltd. “When you have an Indian agent on the line, sometimes it’s hard
‘SACRED MOUNTAIN’: The chipmaker can form joint ventures abroad, except in China, but like other firms, it needs government approval for large investments Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) needs government permission for any overseas joint ventures (JVs), but there are no restrictions on making the most advanced chips overseas other than for China, Minister of Economic Affairs J.W. Kuo (郭智輝) said yesterday. US media have said that TSMC, the world’s largest contract chipmaker and a major supplier to companies such as Apple Inc and Nvidia Corp, has been in talks for a stake in Intel Corp. Neither company has confirmed the talks, but US President Donald Trump has accused Taiwan of taking away the US’ semiconductor business and said he wants the industry back
RSS