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IDC: Taiwan's 4G Subscribers May Hit 10 Million by 2015

2014/12/16 | By Ken Liu

Market consultant IDC forecasts the number of Taiwan's 4G telecom service subscriber to  reach 8.45 million and maybe even 10 million by 2015, a goal mostly hinging on duration of provision of unlimited data usage.

Market researchers at IDC  estimate the subscriber number to surge past 3.3 million by the end of this year mostly due to telecoms' supply of unlimited data usage, broad spectrum  coverage of networks and the iPhone 6 supporting 700MHz bandwidth.

The projected 2014 subscriber number accounts for 11% of the island's total mobile service subscribers or the world's highest 4G penetration in the first year of the service debut.

The searchers predict telecoms to  likely extend unlimited data usage  attached to iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus as package sold to the end of Q1, 2015, with such benefit likely to be curtailed upon contract expiry due to costly investment in 4G infrastructure.

Although Asia Pacific Telecom Co. has launched trial operation of its 4G service to be the fifth 4G telecom provider in Taiwan, the market researchers believe such number would eventually be whittled to three or four due to modest market size, and that beginning 2015 Taiwan's 4G telecoms will undergo M&A, with Asia Pacific Telecom likely to partner with Taiwan Mobile Corp.. to leave Chunghwa Telecom Co., Far EasTone Telecom Co., and Taiwan Star Telecom Corp. as individuals. (KL)