Chunghwa Telecom cuts 3G subscription rate.

Taipei, July 19, 2011 (CENS) -- To alleviate the traffic jam of its 3G mobile-phone network, Chunghwa Telecom announced yesterday (July 18) the provision of 20% discount for its "all-you-can-eat" 3G subscribers with monthly transmission volume less than 1GB.

The preferential program is designed to encourage 3G subscribers to cut down their transmission volume and will put into practice from August through the end of next year. Institutional investors estimate that the program will cost Chunghwa Telecom NT$1.5 billion in revenue, reducing its revenue from non-voice call value-added service to NT$14 billion this year, from the original projection of NT$15 billion.

Two other local major mobile-phone carriers, Taiwan Mobile and Far Eastone, stated that they don't have plan to follow the move of Chunghwa Telecom, since they already rolled out preferential programs of their own previously.

Meanwhile, to help clients cut down on 3G transmission volume and boost the usage of wireless WiFi service, Chunghwa Telecom provides 30 hours of free usage for WiFi service to 3G and 2G subscribers.

The preferential program is expected to benefit 700,000-800,000 subscribers, about half of the projected number of the company's 1.4 million wireless-Internet service subscribers at the end this year. With the 20% discount, the monthly subscription rates of those subscribers will drop to NT$608-680.

The rapid popularity of smart phones and mobile Internet cards in recent two years has greatly augmented the traffic of wireless Internet access, overstraining the capacities of 3G networks. Presently, 87% of Chunghwa's wireless Internet networks' capacity is being occupied by high-volume subscribers, which account for 10% of the total subscribers. The rate cut will, therefore, benefit most subscribers, since the transmission volume of great majority of subscribers is less than 1GB per month.

Along with the rate cut, Chunghwa Telecom will invest NT$9 billion this year and next year to upgrade the bandwidth of transmission bases and accelerate the construction of various micro-cell bases, according to Chang Hsiao-tung, president of Chunghwa Telecom