Taiwan Mobile Co (台灣大哥大) yesterday said it aims to complete its acquisition of Taiwan Star Telecom Corp (台灣之星) by the end of this year, after the Fair Trade Commission gave a conditional go-ahead to the deal.
The transaction would boost the subscriber base of the new entity to nearly 10 million users along with elevated bandwidth and frequency, Taiwan Mobile said in a statement.
Taiwan Mobile’s board of directors in August approved a proposal to raise its capital spending this year to NT$15.65 billion (US$487.16 million) to fund the integration of base stations managed by the two firms.
Photo: George Tsorng, Taipei Times
Taiwan Mobile currently operates 13,000 base stations, while Taiwan Star owns 9,000 units, the companies’ data showed.
“With the regulatory approval, Taiwan’s telecom industry is ushering in a new era,” Taiwan Mobile said. “The new Taiwan Mobile will offer services with greatly elevated bandwidth and frequency for subscribers.”
In July, Far EasTone Telecommunications Co (遠傳電信) obtained an approval from the commission to absorb smaller peer Asia Pacific Telecom Co (亞太電信) in a deal valued at about NT$24.7 billion.
The number of telecom operators in Taiwan would be reduced to three from five following the latest industry consolidation.
“The telecom industry is both technology and capital-intensive. Telecom operators will be able to enhance their operational efficiency and competitiveness through mergers,” the commission said in a statement yesterday.
To maintain market competition and ease concern about market concentration, the commission demanded that Taiwan Mobile safeguard the interests of subscribers and ensure the service quality.
Taiwan Mobile must comprehensively accept terms of Taiwan Star’s existing contracts and ensure Taiwan Star’s subscribers to continue services until Dec. 31, 2025, the commission said.
In addition, Taiwan Star’s 4G subscribers are to continue their contracts until the expiration of the company’s 4G bandwidth license, it said.
Meanwhile, service subscribers who are mentally or physically challenged, from low-income households or 65 years or older can subscribe to preferential tariff plans for at least five years, the commission said. General subscribers can access preferential tariff plans for at least one year, it said.
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
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
STILL HOPEFUL: Delayed payment of NT$5.35 billion from an Indian server client sent its earnings plunging last year, but the firm expects a gradual pickup ahead Asustek Computer Inc (華碩), the world’s No. 5 PC vendor, yesterday reported an 87 percent slump in net profit for last year, dragged by a massive overdue payment from an Indian cloud service provider. The Indian customer has delayed payment totaling NT$5.35 billion (US$162.7 million), Asustek chief financial officer Nick Wu (吳長榮) told an online earnings conference. Asustek shipped servers to India between April and June last year. The customer told Asustek that it is launching multiple fundraising projects and expected to repay the debt in the short term, Wu said. The Indian customer accounted for less than 10 percent to Asustek’s
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