This investment is to complement the Taiwan government’s plan to connect 80% of the country’s internet subscribers to 100Mbps in 2015.
Chunghwa Telecom had intended to put money into next-generation networks but has altered its plans to coincide with the government’s strategy for bandwidth expansion.
The telco is scheduled to begin deploying 100Mbps this year and increasing subscriber bandwidth from 50Mbps.
Chunghwa Telecom has already made significant investments this year. Capacity magazine reported that it signed a contract in February with China Unicom to build a subsea cable between Taiwan and China. The build aims to reduce end-user costs by creating a more direct traffic route.
Asia as a whole has made significant increases in the number of broadband subscribers compared to last year, according to a report from the Broadband Forum. The number of broadband subscribers grew 16.21% year-on-year compared with 2010 figures. The report, compiled by research firm Point Topic, suggests that a key factor in the region’s success is the additions to China’s broadband subscribers during the period.
The growing middle class in Asian countries such as China means that more people can afford telecoms services, allowing telcos and governments to invest more heavily in the market.
