The mobile market is becoming highly saturated, with growth levels falling to 5%. Nevertheless, 3G subscribers are growing in force, reaching growth levels of 20% in 2010.
The country’s biggest mobile telcos – Chunghwa Telecom, FarEasTone and Taiwan Mobile, who hold 35.7%, 23.4% and 23.6% of the total mobile market respectively – are seeing subscribers moving from their 2G networks onto rival 3G networks.
These three telcos all hold 3G licences but it is the smaller operators APBW and VIBO Telecom that have made the most gains in terms of 2G and 3G subscribers in 2010. VIBO gained 21% of the net additions and APBW gained 44%. Chunghwa Telecom still gained a 28% share of the net additions and FarEasTone gained 8% but Taiwan Mobile lost 10,000 subscribers over the course of the year.
There are 18.5 million 3G subscribers in Taiwan. However, the control of the country’s 3G market seems to be shifting to Taiwan’s smaller players.
The operator APBW holds a 10% share of the total market in Taiwan but has secured a 15% share in the 3G market. Equally, while VIBO only holds a 7% share of the total market but holds 10% of the total 3G market.
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