Besides plans to build a major cloud computing Internet Data Center in Banqiao City, Taipei County, Chunghwa Telecom has decided to work to extend its international presence in an effort to attract multinational corporations to use Taiwan’s cloud computing services. This includes plans to expand the company’s broadband undersea cable system.
Because Chunghwa Telecom currently does not excel in cloud computing platform practical application services, it is preparing to form strategic partnerships in the future to help develop cloud computing value-added applications. It is also planning to combine with domestic hardware manufacturers, such as Quanta Computer Inc. and Inventec Corp., to jointly promote integrated cloud computing services.
Noting that it currently ranks fourth globally in broadband Internet services, Chunghwa Telecom stated that through the expansion of its undersea cable network, Taiwan’s cloud computing-related upstream and mid-stream industry chains will be able to push onto the global stage, thereby allowing cloud computing to quickly become another emerging industry in Taiwan with prospective annual output of NT$1 trillion.
Regarding its five-year plan, Chunghwa Telecom said that the scale of its planned investment in cloud computing is still being worked out internally but that initial estimates place it at between NT$20 billion and NT$30 billion.
Lin Jen-hon, vice president of Chunghwa Telecom, said March 23 that cloud computing is changing the global business model. Besides engaging in talks on cooperation with the Industrial Technology Research Institute of Taiwan, the company is also actively expanding its investment in the sector, he noted.
In addition to planned spending of about NT$13 billion on the construction of the IDC in Banqiao and its cloud computing facilities and equipment, the company is planning to lay more undersea fiber-optic cables to expand broadband capacity in order to entice more multinational firms to use its cloud computing and related services, he said.
Chunghwa Telecom currently has a total of seven undersea cables linking to overseas markets. A planned cable between Taiwan’s outlying island of Kinmen and the mainland Chinese coastal city of Xiamen is currently being reviewed by relevant agencies.
The company has also joined a consortium of more than 10 telecom providers in the Asia-Pacific region, including the mainland’s China Telecommunications Corp. and China United Network Communications Group, to develop the Asia-Pacific Gateway submarine cable system that will link the region.
Chunghwa Telecom expects to fork out between NT$1.2 billion and NT$1.3 billion to cover the cable system’s estimated NT$17 billion price tag. (SB)