Taiwan says ‘share towers and networks’ as it prepares for 5G auction
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Taiwan says ‘share towers and networks’ as it prepares for 5G auction

Chafic Nassif Ericsson.jpg

Taiwan’s telecoms regulator wants its five telcos to share 5G towers and network infrastructure.

The National Communications Commission (NCC) was due to hold a briefing today about the use of bandwidth and networks and how to operate jointly built base stations.

At the same time Ericsson has said it expects Taiwan to move faster than Europe into 5G services. Chafic Nassif (pictured), president of Ericsson Taiwan, told media: “Here you have the possibility of creating all kinds of ecosystems. You have a better chance of rapidly achieving scale.”

Last month Capacity reported thatTaiwan is now the fastest place on Earth in terms of broadband speed, according to a Measurement Lab (M-Lab) survey. 

At an auction scheduled for December 2019 the NCC will offer 20MHz of spectrum in the 1.8GHz band and 270MHz in the 3.5GHz band – as well and 2.5GHz of spectrum in the millimetre wave band of 28GHz.

No company can acquire more than 100MHz in the 3.5GHz band, which is turning out to be the most popular globally for 5G, according to a report this morning in the Taipei Times.

The newspaper says that telco chiefs have told Chen Yao-hsiang, acting chairman of the NCC, that the agency should limit the funds generated in the auction – and the NCC should make public its rules for network and tower sharing.

Ericsson’s Nassif said: “Taiwan is getting ready and I have a good feeling that 5G will be here in Taiwan next year, thanks to the many initiatives that have been planned by local telecoms even before December’s 5G spectrum auction.”

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