Far EasTone Telecommunications Co (遠傳電信) yesterday said that given heavy 5G spectrum costs, it would take longer than expected to see a positive contribution from 5G services on its balance sheet.
Far EasTone originally forecast that 5G services would make a positive contribution one to two years after launch, which is scheduled for the third quarter, Far EasTone president Chee Ching (井琪) said.
Ching said she now expects it to take longer than two years.
Photo: Yang Ya-min, Taipei Times
The telecom secured 80 megahertz (MHz) in the 3.5 gigahertz (GHz) band of the 5G spectrum and 400MHz in the 28GHz band at a combined cost of NT$43.04 billion (US$1.42 billion).
The nation’s four telecom operators spent a total of NT$142.19 billion on the 5G spectrum — the third-highest in the world, National Communications Commission data showed.
Far EasTone expects 5G services to boost the company’s average revenue per user mildly this year, Ching said, adding that the effect would magnify next year.
Based on the initial construction plan it submitted to the commission for review, Far EasTone plans to build 6,000 5G base stations in the next five years.
That would cost about NT$18 billion, the company said.
“This is a very conservative [estimate],” Ching said. “We will be more aggressive than that.”
Far EasTone plans to install more than 6,000 5G base stations to have wider coverage and quality Internet access, she said. The company has installed more than 10,000 4G base stations since the commercial launch in 2014, she added.
With better consumer readiness, Far EasTone expects about 20 to 25 percent of local 4G users to upgrade to 5G in the 12 months following the launch, faster than the 12 to 15 percent reported in South Korea, Far EasTone vice president T.Y. Yin (尹德洋) said.
South Korea launched 5G services in April last year, he added.
Aside from new 5G applications, smartphone replacement demand would stimulate the 5G adoption rate as well, Yin said.
Most mobile users who subscribed to the NT$499 monthly flat rate in 2018 are to renew their contracts in November, he said, adding that they are also likely to buy new phones as the old rate plans were not bundled with a subsidized handset.
Hon Hai Precision Industry Co (鴻海精密) yesterday said that its research institute has launched its first advanced artificial intelligence (AI) large language model (LLM) using traditional Chinese, with technology assistance from Nvidia Corp. Hon Hai, also known as Foxconn Technology Group (富士康科技集團), said the LLM, FoxBrain, is expected to improve its data analysis capabilities for smart manufacturing, and electric vehicle and smart city development. An LLM is a type of AI trained on vast amounts of text data and uses deep learning techniques, particularly neural networks, to process and generate language. They are essential for building and improving AI-powered servers. Nvidia provided assistance
GREAT SUCCESS: Republican Senator Todd Young expressed surprise at Trump’s comments and said he expects the administration to keep the program running US lawmakers who helped secure billions of dollars in subsidies for domestic semiconductor manufacturing rejected US President Donald Trump’s call to revoke the 2022 CHIPS and Science Act, signaling that any repeal effort in the US Congress would fall short. US Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, who negotiated the law, on Wednesday said that Trump’s demand would fail, while a top Republican proponent, US Senator Todd Young, expressed surprise at the president’s comments and said he expects the administration to keep the program running. The CHIPS Act is “essential for America leading the world in tech, leading the world in AI [artificial
DOMESTIC SUPPLY: The probe comes as Donald Trump has called for the repeal of the US$52.7 billion CHIPS and Science Act, which the US Congress passed in 2022 The Office of the US Trade Representative is to hold a hearing tomorrow into older Chinese-made “legacy” semiconductors that could heap more US tariffs on chips from China that power everyday goods from cars to washing machines to telecoms equipment. The probe, which began during former US president Joe Biden’s tenure in December last year, aims to protect US and other semiconductor producers from China’s massive state-driven buildup of domestic chip supply. A 50 percent US tariff on Chinese semiconductors began on Jan. 1. Legacy chips use older manufacturing processes introduced more than a decade ago and are often far simpler than
Gasoline and diesel prices this week are to decrease NT$0.5 and NT$1 per liter respectively as international crude prices continued to fall last week, CPC Corp, Taiwan (CPC, 台灣中油) and Formosa Petrochemical Corp (台塑石化) said yesterday. Effective today, gasoline prices at CPC and Formosa stations are to decrease to NT$29.2, NT$30.7 and NT$32.7 per liter for 92, 95 and 98-octane unleaded gasoline respectively, while premium diesel is to cost NT$27.9 per liter at CPC stations and NT$27.7 at Formosa pumps, the companies said in separate statements. Global crude oil prices dropped last week after the eight OPEC+ members said they would
RSS