Mark's Taiwan schedule was very tight. His company had pre-arranged a local research institute to
conduct some research before Mark's arrival, so he could get to work without delay. As soon as
Mark and Lydia landed, they asked the driver take them to get some famous Taiwanese delicacy.
When they returned to the hotel, the local research institute had sent Mark a report via e-mail.
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Taiwan hopes to establish itself as a global telecommunications center, with the backing of its
hi-tech manufacturing, solid R/D ability, the world's highest penetration of mobile phones and
leading Chinese content industry. According to the Industrial Technology Intelligence Services (ITIS)
of the Ministry of Economic Affairs, the value of Taiwan's telecommunications industry totalled
88.86 billion NT dollars in the first quarter of 2004, a 28.9 percent jump from the same period a year
ago. Of the industry, the wireless telecommunications products posted the strongest growth of 37
percent, with its value totalling 57.88 billion. The value of the broadband telecommunications
section grew 16.1 percent to 30.98 billion NT dollars.
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The Taiwan government values highly the information infrastructure and has had some remarkable
achievements. This is especially noticeable when compared with other countries. According to a
survey by Point Topic in March 2004, there were 100.8 million xDSL, cable modem and other
broadband subscribers at the end of 2003 globally. Taiwan ranked the ninth in the world with 3.01
million broadband subscribers. Of the top 10 broadband penetrations, Taiwan ranked the fourth
after South Korea, Hong Kong and Canada, with 13 broadband lines per 100 population. As for DSL
penetration, Taiwan ranked only after South Korea with 12.5 DSL lines per 100 population in 2003,
up from nine per 100 a year ago.
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| Internet is widely available and adopted in Taiwan. According to FIND of Advanced e-Commerce Institute (ACI), Institute for Information Industry (III), some 8.83 million people in Taiwan constantly surf on Internet, with the Internet popularity at 39 percent at the end of 2003. |
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survey also showed that there were 2.89 million Internet subscribers in Taiwan at the end of 2003,
marking a rise of 770,000 subscribers in one year. DSL has been the mainstream broadband
technology in Taiwan, with about 2.59 million subscribers. The next popular broadband technology
is cable modem, with 310,000 subscribers at the end of 2003.
As Taiwan's hinterland is limited, the government has devoted in promoting the popularity of
Internet technology, and constructing broadband network infrastructure in order to transform
Taiwan into an information society. In 2002, the Cabinet proved a state-level "e-Taiwan" program to
build Taiwan as a digital technology island on the platform of digital economy. Taiwan has achieved
significant improvements in information infrastructure, e-government, e-industry and the e-society.
We can say that it is the role of government which boost Taiwan's broadband infrastructure. |
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 The statistics of International Telecommunication Union (ITU) showed that Taiwan has the world's
highest mobile phone density. By December 2003, there were 25.09 million mobile phone subscribers,
with the penetration rate as high as 110 percent.
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With the growing mobile phone popularity and the multiple services in elecommunications
offerings, there were 2.79 million mobile Internet subscribers in Taiwan at the end of 2003, up by
1.72 million from a year ago. Mobil Internet subscribers accounted for 29 percent of whole Internet
subscribers, a big jump from 13 percent in 2002. As more and more telecommunications operators
provide GPRS services, the number of WAP subscribers has declined while GPRS subscribers
increased significantly.
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According to statistics of the Directorate General of Telecommunications, the average revenue per
user (ARPU) of Taiwan's mobile industry reached 1800 NT dollars in the fourth quarter of 2003.
However, the ARPU in either WAP or GPRS is still not high, at about 84 NT dollars. Considering
Taiwan's high mobile penetration and the high ARPU in mobile phone voice services, there is still
huge room for mobile Internet to grow.
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| Mobile Internet service has been evaluated as highly potential, though it just started to develop in
Taiwan, for its ability to carry out multiple services and truly convenience. At the end of 2003, there
were about 2.79 million mobile Internet subscribers in Taiwan, accounting for 11 percent of the 25
million mobile phone subscribers. According to a FIND survey, most mobile Internet subscribers
use the services while they are waiting or on public transport. Of all mobile Internet services, SMS,
booking tickets and image/bell-ring download are most popular. These services are popular
because they are interactive and personalized, and they can easily fit into odd moments people have
during the day.
Based on past experience in the semiconductor and computer industry, Taiwan has established a
strong position in the telecommunications industry. Taiwan is now the world's biggest producer of
ADSL and cable modems and also a top producer for WLAN equipment and GSM mobiles. Since
Taiwan has built up a solid foundation for telecommunications hardware and software, and the
mobile Internet population has been growing, investors should consider stepping into the mobile
service market. Mobile services are still limited at present, due to conservative attitude of most
operators, but this is also where future opportunity lies. What Taiwan lacks is marketing experience
and business models. If investors can make up for this weakness and take advantage of the fact that
Taiwan is the biggest exporter of Chinese language content, there will be numerous opportunities in
the mobile Internet industry.
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next: Government Policy Activates the Whole Nation
