Taiwan Mobile has become the third mobile operator to secure a 5G license in the country after telecommunications regulator NCC approved the telco’s 5G plan, according to local press reports.
NCC Chief Secretary Hsiao Chi-hong said Taiwan Mobile is now expecting to deploy 4,000 5G base stations by the end of this year compared to a previous plan in which 2,000 5G base stations had been targeted.
Rival operators Chunghwa Telecom and Far EasTone were awarded 5G licenses earlier this month, with each aiming to deploy 3,000 5G base stations by the end of 2020.
Hsiao noted the new plan by Taiwan Mobile to have more base stations shows that competition in the Taiwanese 5G market has started escalating, even though no 5G services have been launched yet.
Taiwan Mobile expects to launch commercial 5G services in the third quarter of the year, according to the report.
Taiwan Mobile had acquired 60 megahertz of spectrum in the 3.5 GHz band and 200 megahertz of the 28 GHz frequency.
Chunghwa Telecom was the first telco in Taiwan to receive a license for 5G services. The telco expects to launch commercial 5G services in Taiwan based on the non-standalone (NSA) architecture in July.
Chunghwa Telecom has been deploying 5G base stations in the municipalities of Taipei, New Taipei, Taoyuan, Taichung, Tainan and Kaohsiung.
Chunghwa Telecom has spent NT$45.67 billion ($1.52 billion) for 90 megahertz of spectrum in the 3.5 GHz band and NT$618 million for 600 megahertz in the 28 GHz band.
The operator selected Ericsson and Nokia as 5G RAN vendors. Ericsson said that will use the vendor’s Radio System base stations and Ericsson’s 5G core, including its 5G Evolved Packet Core.
Far EasTone secured the second 5G license earlier this month. In March, Far EasTone selected Ericsson to be its 5G Radio Access Network (RAN) vendor in a deal that will span all of FET’s spectrum assets in the low, mid and high bands. The operator stated that using Ericsson for 5G services will reduce the complexity of the migration for 4G to 5G, because the operator was already working with Ericsson as the sole vendor for its 4G LTE network.
As part of the rollout, Ericsson Spectrum Sharing and artificial intelligence (AI)-powered radio access network solutions will be deployed. The Ericsson Spectrum Sharing will help FET to allocate spectrum assets efficiently based on traffic demand using existing infrastructure, while the AI-driven software capabilities will increase 5G coverage and 4G performance, said the company.
The firm said it aims to launch commercial 5G services this summer.
FET had previously secured 80 megahertz in the 3.5 GHz band and 400 megahertz in the 28 GHz band. The telco expects to launch its 5G network in partnership with Ericsson.
Meanwhile, Taiwan Star Telecom has also secured spectrum in the 3.5 GHz band during the January auction, while Asia Pacific Telecom only acquired frequencies in the 28 GHz band. These two telcos are still in process to get 5G licenses from NCC.
