Taiwan's Chunghwa Telecom tests the 1G broadband waters

Chunghwa Telecom (NYSE: CHT), Taiwan's largest telco, has begun a trial of 1G fiber-based broadband Internet services.

The service provider will conduct the service trials in five of its key cities: Taipei, New Taipei, Taichung, Tainan and Kaohsiung.

As expected, the telco will also continue to market the capabilities of its existing 50 Mbps Fiber to the Home (FTTH) speed tier.

As of early May, the service provider revealed that over 2.52 million users have signed up for its fiber-based broadband service, with 530,000 of that group purchasing a 50 Mbps connection. It plans to begin offering a 100 Mbps speed tier later this year.

Fiber-based broadband is a key initiative for the service provider. Chunghwa Telecom chairman S.J. Lu, said the company expects to spend about TWD200 million in the 10-year period from 2011.

Chunghwa Telecom, of course, is not alone in its FTTH desires. Taipei's city government, for example, is building its own FTTH network leveraging the city's sewer systems to challenge the incumbent provider.

For more:
- TeleGeography has this article

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