Chunghwa Telecom optimistic about mobile Internet business

Oct. 9, 2009 (China Knowledge) - Chunghwa Telecom Co Ltd, the largest telecom and Internet services provider in Taiwan, believes that mobile broadband business will boom this year, and that the number of subscribers is expected to increase to 370,000 in 2009, compared with 160,000 in 2008, Mu-Piao Shih, president of Chunghwa's mobile business group, said on Wednesday.

Next year, the company is likely to add 200,000 mobile Internet users thanks to the rising demand for mobile broadband and smartphones on the island, Shih said at a press conference for the launch of Microsoft Corp's Windows phone.

He is also optimistic about the smartphone and mobile broadband market outlook as more smartphones with different operating systems are offered by handset makers,

About 390,000 smartphones are expected to be sold this year, of which 240,000 will be bundled with contracts for the carrier's mobile phone and broadband service plans, said Shih.

In the first six months of this year, Chunghwa Telecom posted revenues of NT$90.37 billion, down 3.2% from a year earlier. It also lowered its pre-tax profit forecast for the third quarter to NT$11.79 billion, far less than the NT$17.28 billion in the same period of last year.