Taiwan Mobile and Far EasTone would have to return spectrum to have the mergers fully approved
Taiwan’s telecom regulator approved the mergers between Taiwan Mobile and Taiwan Star Telecom, and Far EasTone and Asia Pacific Telecom (APT), local newspaper Taipei Times reported.
The National Communications Commission (NCC), which had analyzed the two processes during nearly a year, conditioned the two mergers on the fact that Taiwan Mobile and Far EasTone must dispose of excess bandwidth acquired through the mergers by the end of June next year. The regulator noted that Taiwan Mobile and Far EasTone can voluntarily return the excess bandwidth to the government, or transfer it to or exchange it with other telecom operators.
The mergers still have to be approved by the Fair Trade Commission, the NCC said.
Taiwan Mobile and Far EasTone were also required to complete administrative procedures at the Ministry of Digital Affairs, the Securities and Futures Bureau and the Ministry of Economic Affairs, the regulator added.
The conditions set by the regulator also obliges the two telecoms to raise their 4G coverage rate to 99% and 5G coverage rate to 98% by 2027. Also, their 5G coverage rate in rural areas must be increased to 95%.
Far EasTone would receive 2.07 million APT subscribers once the merger is complete, while Taiwan Mobile would receive 2.69 million Taiwan Star service subscribers, according to the report.
Earlier this week, Far EasTone Telecommunications said it expected its 5G subscriber penetration rate to reach 40% by the end of this year from more than 30% last year.
The carrier’s president, Chee Ching, said that it would be reasonable to see an increase of 10 percentage points this year in the penetration rate of 5G subscribers.
Ching added that the growth in 5G subscriptions will represent one of the company’s key drivers of growth during 2023.
In January 2022, Taiwan Mobile had completed the signing of a merger agreement with rival operator Taiwan Star Telecom.
Following the merger process, Taiwan Mobile said it will emerge with a 100MHz block of spectrum in the 3.5GHz band. It will also have 11,000 3.5GHz 5G base stations that will provide 5G service to 90% of the population and cover 95% of Taiwan’s communication traffic.
The telco noted that once the merger is fully completed, Taiwan Mobile plans to address the demand for vertical fields, such as for smart factories, by immediately adapting Taiwan Star’s 40 MHz block on the 3.5GHz spectrum to provide dedicated network services for enterprises.
