Chunghwa Telecom to increase FTTx coverage to 85 percent of Taiwan's population

Taiwan's incumbent telco Chunghwa Telecom plans to increase the footprint of its FTTx network from 70 to 85 percent of homes and businesses by the end of 2013.

At the end of the year, the telco has set a goal of having 300,000 subscribers signed up for its 100 Mbps fiber-based service. Besides the 100 Mbps service, it offers a 50 Mbps tier and has been conducting trials of a 1 Gbps service in five of its key cities: Taipei, New Taipei, Taichung, Tainan and Kaohsiung.

The telco's plans don't stop there, however. By 2015, Chunghwa has targeted 97 percent of its population to be covered by FTTx by the year 2015.

Based on a GPON architecture, network equipment will be procured through an open bid from potential vendors such as Alcatel-Lucent (NYSE: ALU), ZyXEL Communications, D-Link, Chang Bao Industrial and Chunghwa System Integration.

Upping speeds and offering new service bundles is important for Chunghwa as it begins to do battle with new competitors such as Taipei's city government, which is building its own FTTH network leveraging the city's sewer systems.  

For more:
- TeleGeography has this article

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