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Far EasTone

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FET / Far EasTone Telecommunications Co., Ltd.
Viễn truyện điện tín cổ phân hữu hạn công tư
Company typePublic company
TWSE:4904[1]
IndustryTelecommunications
Mobile Communications
FoundedApril 11, 1997
HeadquartersTaipei City,Taiwan
Key people
Yvonnne Li, President
Chee Ching, President-select
ProductsMobile services,
Data services
Websitehttp://www.fetnet.net/

Far EasTone Telecommunications(Far EasTone/FET;Chinese:Viễn truyện điện tín cổ phân hữu hạn công tư;pinyin:Yuǎnchuán Diànxìn Gǔfèn Yǒuxiàn Gōngsī) is atelecommunicationscompany based inTaiwan.It is the third largest behindChunghwa TelecomandTaiwan Mobile.[citation needed]

History

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Far EasTone was founded in October 1996 by theFar Eastern Group,in a joint venture withAT&T.The company was awarded two wireless (GSM900 and GSM 1800) service licenses in January 1997. The following year, Far EasTone launched its service and became the first company to introduce a fully integrateddual-bandsystem.[2]: 7 

Far EasTone was the first Taiwanese company to offer the Java 32K SIM Toolkit,mobile banking,mobile commerce,real-time access to financial, entertainment and headline news, mobile fax/mail, logo download and e-coupons. In March 1999, after fourteen months in business, Far EasTone achieved one million revenue-producing customers, faster than any other GSM operator.[2]: 7 

The company was listed on theTaiwan OTC Stock Exchangein December 2001 under the ticker code 4904 and was officially listed on theTaiwan Stock Exchangein the electronic sector in August 2005. In September 2006, Far EasTone began providing3GWCDMAservices.[2]: 7–8 

On December 16, 2009, Far EasTone acquiredWiMAXlicenses,[3]and from December 22 began offering WiMAX transmission services. On October 30, 2013, Taiwan'sLTEstandard license bidding closed with Far EasTone payingNT$31.315 billion for the LTE frequency bands (700 MHz A2/1800 MHz C3, C4), with a total bandwidth of 30 MHz.[4]Far EasTone launched4GLTEservices on June 3, 2014 and5GNRservices in 2020.

List of presidents

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  • Joseph O'Konek (May 1998 – 30 June 2002)[5]
  • Jan Nilsson (1 September 2002 – September 2010)[6]
  • Yvonne Li (10 September 2010 – January 2019)[7]
  • Chee Ching (since 7 January 2019)[8]

Mobile Network Information (Radio Frequency Summary)

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Frequency Technology Type Band Bandwidth Attributes
2100 MHz LTE-A, WCDMA 1 UMTS/WCDMA service was terminated on 31 Dec 2018., This frequency was refarmed to LTE to increase capacity during times of congestion.
700 MHz LTE-A 28 2x10 MHz This frequency is to provide supplemental coverage in areas where the 1800 MHz or 2600 MHz frequencies are weak or non-existent. (Acquired from digital TV spectrum auction after analogue TV was switched off).
1800 MHz LTE-A 3 2x20 MHz Main LTE band for most services.
2600 MHz LTE-A 7 2x20 MHz This frequency acts as a capacity booster to supplement the 1800 MHz frequency in certain areas.
2600 MHz LTE-A 38 25 MHz Same frequency as band 7, but using TD-LTE modulation to increase download capacity in high traffic areas.
3.5 GHz NR n78 80 MHz Deploying/in progress
28 GHz NR n257 400 MHz Recent won in a spectrum auction in early 2020. In trial.

Mergers and acquisitions

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The parent company ofKG Telecom[zh],NTT Docomo,reportedly proposed in 2003 that KG Telecom and Far EasTone swap shares in a merger.[9]A deal was reached in that July,[10][11]only to fall through in August.[12]Another round of negotiations produced a second agreement in October 2003.[13][14]In April 2004, the merger was finalized,[15]and became the largest ever acquisition in the Taiwanese telecom industry.[11]In February 2005, Far EasTone bought a 55.3% stake in Arcoa. In May 2005, Far EasTone formally merged with Yuan-Ze Telecom. In May 2007, the company bought a 51% equity interest in Q-ware Communications to extend the scope of its wireless communications services.[2]

In August 2007,Singteltransferred its 24.5% stake in New Century Infocomm Tech company for a 3.5% share of Far EasTone.[16]On April 30, 2009, it was announced thatChina Mobilewould invest up to 12 per cent into the company.[17]The amount of foreign ownership was projected to be:NTT DoCoMoat 4.1 per cent, SingTel at 3.5 per cent, China Mobile at 12 per cent. On April 27, 2012, Singtel sold its 3.98% share of Far EasTone.[18]On April 18, 2013, China Mobile announced the termination of a stake in Far EasTone, though the parties signed a bilateral cooperation agreement.[19]

According to a July 5, 2015 article inThe Wall Street Journal,there was a consortium seeking to buycable televisioncompanyChina Network Systems[zh]from the private equity firmMBK PartnersLP, led by the company andMorgan Stanley.[20]

FarEasTone announced in February 2022 that the company would acquireAsia Pacific Telecom[zh]in a stock swap,[21]resulting on the merger between two telecom.[22]

Subscribers and market share

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The total number of subscribers between the Company and KGT was 6.13 million at the end of December 2008. In the Taiwan mobile market (2 & 3G) the market shares were as follows: Chunghwa Telecom at 35%, Taiwan Mobile at 25%, Far EasTone at 24%, Asia Pacific Telecom andVibo Telecomat 10%, andPHSat 6%.[2]: 55 The company, along with other leading Taiwan companies, has recently (April 29, 2016) been raising prices.[23]

See also

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References

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  1. ^"4904:Taiwan Stock Quote - Far EasTone Telecommunications Co Ltd".Bloomberg.com.Retrieved2016-05-01.
  2. ^abcde2008 Annual ReportFET. Retrieved 2016-05-01.
  3. ^Su, Wenbin (2009-12-16)."NCC phát cấp viễn truyện, uy mại tư WiMAX doanh vận chấp chiếu"(in Chinese). iTHome.Retrieved2016-05-02.
  4. ^Xiao, Fengzi (2013-10-31)."Đài loan LTE 4G cạnh tiêu kết quả giải tích dữ hậu tục phát triển dự trắc"(in Chinese). Techbang.Retrieved2016-05-02.
  5. ^Lue, Annabel (27 April 2002)."Head of Far EasTone to step down".Taipei Times.Retrieved19 December2018.
  6. ^"FarEasTone appoints president".Taipei Times.Retrieved19 December2018.
  7. ^"FET appoints new president".Taipei Times.1 September 2010.Retrieved19 December2018.
  8. ^Wang, Lisa (19 December 2018)."Far EasTone names new president".Taipei Times.Retrieved19 December2018.
  9. ^"DoCoMo urges share swap".Taipei Times.11 July 2003.Retrieved19 December2018.
  10. ^Lue, Annabel (18 July 2003)."Far EasTone absorbs KG Telecom".Taipei Times.Retrieved19 December2018.
  11. ^ab"Far EasTone Finalizes KG Telecom Merger".The Wall Street Journal.8 August 2003.Retrieved19 December2018.
  12. ^Lue, Annabel (30 August 2003)."KG Telecom calls off merger plans".Taipei Times.Retrieved19 December2018.
  13. ^Chen, Kevin (8 October 2003)."Far EasTone makes deal to acquire KG Telecommunications".Taipei Times.Retrieved19 December2018.
  14. ^Lue, Annabel (9 October 2003)."Telecoms merger spices up market for 3G services".Taipei Times.Retrieved19 December2018.
  15. ^"Ratings steady for phone firms".Taipei Times.11 August 2004.Retrieved19 December2018.
  16. ^"SingTel in NCIC/Far EasTone share swap deal".Telegeography. Archived fromthe originalon 2016-06-04.Retrieved2016-05-02.
  17. ^"China Mobile to take stake in Taiwan's Far EasTone".China Daily.Retrieved2016-05-02.
  18. ^"SingTel says sells stake in Far EasTone for $273 mln".Reuters.2012-04-27.Retrieved2016-05-02.
  19. ^Poon, Paul; Mozur, Paul (2013-04-18)."China Mobile Scraps Tie-Up With Far EasTone".The Wall Street Journal.Retrieved2016-05-02.
  20. ^Carew, Rick (2015-07-05)."Far EasTone, Morgan Stanley Group Near $2.3 Billion Cable TV Deal in Taiwan".The Wall Street Journal.Retrieved2016-05-01.
  21. ^Wu, Jeffrey; Jiang, Ming-yan; Chung, Jung-feng; Huang, Frances (25 February 2022)."Far EasTone to merge Asia Pacific Telecom in stock-swap deal".Central News Agency.Retrieved26 February2022.
  22. ^Wang, Lisa (February 26, 2022)."Far EasTone says it plans to merge with Asia Pacific".Taipei Times.RetrievedJanuary 11,2024.
  23. ^Chen, Ted (2016-04-29)."Credit Suisse welcomes telecoms' price increases".Taipei Times.Retrieved2016-05-01.
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