Taiwan - Telecoms, Mobile and Broadband - Statistics and Analyses
Taiwan mobile companies shrink from six to three in a bid to drive revenue growth
Taiwan’s mobile sector has dramatically shrunk from six operators to just three in a very small space of time. While still subject to regulatory approval, the acquisition of Taiwan Star by Taiwan Mobile at the end of 2021 then closely followed by Far EasTone’s merger with Asia Pacific Telecom in April 2022 will help strengthen the position of the minor players in their battle over the dominant Chunghwa Telecom.
The M&A strategies also reflect the state of Taiwan’s mobile market, with near-saturation levels meaning minimal organic growth is possible. All the operators were quick to launch 4G then 5G networks and services in a bid to capture (or at least retain) a reasonable share of the market, but no company was able to sufficiently differentiate its offering in order to cause any significant shift in loyalties from Taiwan’s tech-literate and astute customer base. The remaining operators may now be counting on a cooling of the heat on the pricing front, such that they can stall the decline in ARPU and recover some of the costs of their investment in the latest mobile platforms.
- Executive summary
- Key statistics
- Table Top Level Country Statistics and Telco Authorities – Taiwan - 2022 (e)
- Regional Asia market comparison
- MARKET CHARACTERISTICS
- MARKET LEADERS
- MARKET CHALLENGERS
- MARKET EMERGENTS
- TMI VS GDP
- MOBILE AND MOBILE BROADBAND PENETRATION
- FIXED VERSUS MOBILE BROADBAND PENETRATION
- Country overview
- Telecommunications market
- MARKET REVENUE
- Table Taiwan - Distribution of telecom revenue by services – 2016 – 2020
- MARKET REVENUE
- Regulatory environment
- REGULATORY AUTHORITIES
- FIXED-LINE DEVELOPMENTS
- Liberalisation
- 1996 Telecom ACT
- Foreign investment
- MOBILE NETWORK DEVELOPMENTS
- 4G / LTE spectrum auctions
- 5G spectrum auction
- Mobile Number Portability (MNP)
- Mobile market
- Table Change in the number of mobile subscribers and penetration – 2012 – 2027
- Table Change in the number of mobile subscribers by technology (million) –2012 – 2021
- Table Development of 2G/3G/4G mobile services ARPU (NT$ / subscriber / month) –2012 – 2020
- Table Change in the share of mobile subscriber base by prepaid/contract – 2012 – 2020
- Table Change in voice traffic volume by type (billion minutes) –2012 – 2021
- Table Change in SMS traffic and revenue – 2012 – 2021
- MOBILE INFRASTRUCTURE
- 5G
- LTE
- 3G
- GSM
- Mobile broadband
- Table Growth in the number of mobile broadband subscribers and penetration – 2012 – 2027
- Table Growth in mobile data traffic – 2012 – 2020
- MAJOR MOBILE OPERATORS
- Table Mobile operator subscribers and market share – 2012 – 2021
- Chunghwa Telecom (CHT)
- Table Change in Chunghwa Telecom’s blended mobile ARPU – 2012 – 2022
- Taiwan Mobile
- Table Growth in Taiwan Mobile’s revenue and net profit (NT$ million) –2012 – 2022
- Table Development of Taiwan Mobile’s revenue by type (NT$ million) –2016 – 2021
- Table Taiwan Mobile’s annualised ARPU (NT$ per month) –2012 – 2022
- Table Change in the number of Taiwan Mobile’s subscribers by type (million) –2012 – 2022
- Far EasTone Telecommunications
- Table Change in the number of Far EasTone’s mobile subscribers (million) –2012 – 2022
- Table Development of Far EasTone’s ARPU (NT$ / month) –2012 – 2022
- Table Development of Far EasTone’s financial data (NT$ million) –2012 – 2022
- Asia Pacific Telecom (APT)
- VIBO Telecom
- Taiwan Star
- Ambit
- Mobile Virtual Network Operators (MVNOs)
- Fixed-line broadband market
- Table Growth in the number of fixed broadband subscribers and penetration – 2012 – 2027
- Table Change in the number of fixed-line broadband subscribers by technology (million) –2012 – 2021
- FIBRE-TO-THE-PREMISES (FTTP) NETWORKS
- Chunghwa Telecom (CHT)
- Table Change in the number of Chunghwa Telecom’s fibre broadband subscribers (million) –2012 – 2022
- Taiwan Mobile
- Table Growth in the number of Taiwan Mobile’s fixed broadband subscribers – 2012 – 2022
- Chunghwa Telecom (CHT)
- HYBRID FIBRE COAX (HFC) NETWORKS
- GigaMedia
- DIGITAL SUBSCRIBER LINE (DSL) NETWORKS
- OTHER FIXED BROADBAND SERVICES
- Wi-Fi
- WiMAX
- Digital economy
- E-GOVERNMENT
- E-PAYMENTS / M-PAYMENTS
- ONLINE SHOPPING
- Fixed network market
- Table Decline in the number of fixed lines in service and teledensity – 2012 – 2027
- MAJOR NETWORK OPERATORS
- Chunghwa Telecom (CHT)
- Table Development of Chunghwa Telecom’s financial data (NT$ billion) –2012 – 2022
- Table Change in the proportion of Chunghwa Telecom’s revenue by service – 2012 – 2021
- Chunghwa Telecom (CHT)
- Telecommunications infrastructure
- FORWARD-LOOKING INFRASTRUCTURE CONSTRUCTION PROJECT
- SUBMARINE CABLE NETWORKS
- Table Growth in international internet bandwidth – 2012 – 2020
- SATELLITE NETWORKS
- SMART INFRASTRUCTURE
- Internet of Things (IoT)
- Smart grids
- Appendix – Historic data
- Table Historic - Data communication revenue and mobile data service revenue ratios – 2001 – 2011
- Table Historic - International internet bandwidth – 2000 – 2011
- Table Historic - Taiwan telecoms service revenue – 1985 – 2012
- Table Historic - Fixed-line subscribers and penetration – 1996 – 2011
- Table Historic - Taiwan - Call volumes for outgoing mobile and fixed network traffic (billion minutes) –1999 – 2011
- Table Historic - Chunghwa Telecom revenue, capex, net profit (NT$ billion) –2000 – 2011
- Table Historic - Chunghwa Telecom’s fixed line subscribers, residential and business (million) –2000 – 2011
- Table Historic - Internet users and penetration – 1998 – 2016
- Table Historic - Fixed-line broadband subscribers, penetration – 2000 – 2011
- Table Historic - Fixed-line and wireless broadband subscribers by technology (thousand) –2000 – 2011
- Table Historic - Cable broadband subscribers – 2000 – 2011
- Table Historic - DSL subscribers – 2000 – 2011
- Table Historic - Chunghwa Telecom HiNet subscribers by type (thousand) –2003 – 2011
- Table Historic - Chunghwa Telecom broadband ARPU (NT$/month) –2001 – 2011
- Table Historic - Chunghwa DSL and fibre ARPU (NT$/month) –2008 – 2011
- Table Historic - Mobile subscribers by technology (PHS, 2G, 3G, LTE) (million) –2003 – 2011
- Table Historic - Mobile subscribers and penetration – 1996 – 2011
- Table Historic - 2G/3G/4G mobile services ARPU (NT$/month) –2005 – 2011
- Table Historic - SMS traffic and revenue – 2001 – 2011
- Table Historic - Prepaid share of total mobile subscriber base – 2001 – 2011
- Table Historic - Chunghwa Telecom mobile subscribers by type (million) –1998 – 2011
- Table Historic - Chunghwa Telecom’s blended mobile ARPU – 2001 – 2011
- Table Historic - Taiwan Mobile revenue and net profit (NT$ million) –2003 – 2011
- Table Historic - Taiwan Mobile subscribers by platform (million) –1998 – 2011
- Table Historic - Far EasTone mobile subscribers – 1998 – 2011
- Table Historic - Far EasTone revenue, EBITDA, capex, net profit (NT$ million) –2003 – 2011
- Table Historic - Chunghwa Telecom’s mobile subscribers – 2003 – 2011
- Table Historic - Chunghwa Telecom’s mobile market share of subscribers – 2000 – 2011
- Table Historic - APT’s mobile subscribers – 2005 – 2013
- Table Historic - VIBO Telecom mobile subscribers – 2005 – 2013
- Table Historic - Change in Chunghwa Telecom’s financial data (NT$ million) –2005 – 2009
- Table Historic - Chunghwa Telecom’s subscribers as proportion of total – 2006 – 2011
- Table Historic - Change in the number of mobile number portings – 2005 – 2011
- Table Historic - Change in the number of 3G/LTE mobile broadband subscribers (million) –2008 – 2011
- Table Historic - Development of Far EasTone’s ARPU – 2007 – 2011
- Table Historic - Growth in the number of Taiwan Mobile’s cable broadband Subscribers – 2008 – 2011
- Table Historic - Growth in the number of fibre broadband subscribers – 2007 – 2011
- Glossary of abbreviations
- Related reports
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