Taiwan Today

The Executive Yuan has approved plans by the Ministry of Transportation and Communications to release two nationwide mobile TV licenses for bidding. The licenses are expected to be issued by the end of December 2010 or January 2011 at the earliest. The National Communications Commission has adopted a “first review, then auction off” approach for the bidding process. Bidders will be required to possess a minimum of NT$1 billion (US$ 31.45 million) in capital to qualify, and the licenses will be awarded through a draw if the bidding prices exceed a set yardstick, according to the plan. The Taiwan Communications Industry Association held a seminar on “the new era of mobile multimedia” Jan. 14 to discuss the government’s future mobile TV policy and license issuing plans. The symposium attracted the participation of representatives of many enterprises interested in cashing in on mobile multimedia business opportunities. According to sources, U.S.-based leading handset chipmaker Qualcomm Inc. has teamed up with Taiwan’s Cheng Uei Precision Industry Co. Ltd. to form a joint venture named LinkMedia Co. Ltd. on the island to make a bid for a mobile TV license. Other firms that have expressed an interest in joining the bidding include Quanta Computer Inc., Taiwan’s three leading mobile phone service providers, namely Chunghwa Telecom Co. Ltd., Taiwan Mobile Co. Ltd. and Far EasTone Co. Ltd., as well as VIBO Telecom Inc. LinkMedia General Manager Randy Lee said that based on the experience of other countries, a monthly fee of between NT$200 and NT$300 for mobile TV services would be acceptable to subscribers. He stated that if demand is high after the introduction of mobile TV services, this could translate into business opportunities of at least NT$4.6 billion to NT$7.59 billion per month, or as high as between NT$55.2 billion and NT$91 billion for the whole year. Industry representatives noted that compared to the costs of setting up the infrastructure for third-generation mobile services in the past, the startup costs for providing mobile TV services are not expensive. However, the key question will be how to bring in revenue from providing this new service, they said. (SB)