AT&T Wireless Services Inc. and GTE Corp. have been awarded nationwide mobile phone licenses in Taiwan, beating competitors such as Sprint Corp. and France Telecom Group out of the prize.
Also, a regional license covering southern Taiwan was won by a consortium that includes U.S.-based SBC Communications Inc.
AT&T and the Far Eastern Group of Taiwan lead a consortium called Far EasTone, which won both a nationwide and a regional license covering the nation’s capital city, Taipei.
AT&T reportedly has a 20 percent stake in Far EasTone, which is the maximum allowed by the Taiwanese government. AT&T said it will collaborate with its consortium partners to establish the Far EasTone Labs, a research and development facility.
The second nationwide license went to Pacific Telecommunications Systems, a group which includes GTE and Acer Inc., Taiwan’s leading computer manufacturer. The consortium said it will build a Digital Cellular System 1800 network throughout Taiwan; service is scheduled to be launched in 1998.
GTE has a 12 percent stake in the venture and expects to invest about $90 million in the deal. The largest stakeholder in Pacific Telecom is Pacific Electric Wire and Cable of Taiwan, which performs cable and telecom-related manufacturing. Evergreen Marine, the transportation company, also is a partner, along with Fubon Bank, the Continental construction company and Yageo, an electronic component manufacturer.
The venture which includes SBC is TransAsia Telecom. The group is led by Asia Pacific Investment Corp., the investment arm of Formosa Plastics Group. TransAsia Telecom is expected to build a Global System for Mobile communications network in southern Taiwan.
The SmartLink joint venture won two regional licenses covering central and southern Taiwan. SmartLink is led by Tuntex Group of Taipei, reportedly with 70 percent, and First Pacific of Hong Kong with about 17 percent.
AT&T, GTE and SBC were successful at the expense of California-based AirTouch Communications Inc., Mitsubishi of Japan, Singapore Telecom and Hongkong Telecom, which all sought the opportunity.
Asian newspapers claim Hongkong Telecom’s bid was frowned at because about 8 percent of the company is owned by the China International Trust and Investment Corp. based in mainland, communist China. This is the second licensing loss Hongkong Telecom has experienced in the last year; the Hong Kong government turned down the company’s bid for a new wireless license this past summer.
