'M-Taiwan' plan estimated to attract investments of NT$400 B. in 5 years

Taipei, Sept. 22, 2003 (CENS)--After careful assessment, the government has decided to incorporate the 'M-Taiwan' (mobile Taiwan) plan into its recently finalized five-year project, which is estimated to cost NT$500 billion (US$14.5 billion at US$1 = NT$34.5).

The "M-Taiwan" plan may attract participants from such industries as cell phones, fixed-line telecommunication, and digital content provision. The manufacturers in the said industries are predicted to launch N$400 billion (US$11.6 billion) worth of investments to comply with the plan, and the investments are expected to generate a total of NT$3 trillion (US$87 billion) production value.

Government officials said that the major hardware construction of the "M-Taiwan" plan would be the installation of common ducts for Internet optical fiber, which will facilitate the development of the audio-video mobile phones and digital content industries.

The twin-network program under the "M-Taiwan" is aimed at the establishment of a wireless regional network to reinforce the capacity of transceiver base stations around the island and to enhance the application services for wireless broadband Internet users.