Taiwanese operator Chunghwa Telecom expects to end 2021 with over 10,000 5G stations across Taiwan, the company’s president, Harrison Kuo, said during a conference call with investors.
Kuo said that the operator is currently operating a total of 6,300 5G sites across Taiwan.
“In the first quarter of 2021, mobile business continued to be the main focus in the market. We’ve set a target of accumulating 2 million 5G subscribers at the end of this year. And we are glad to report the number of our 5G sign-ups potentially exceed our internal targets,” the executive said.
“Our 5G network construction is well ahead of schedule. As Taiwan’s leading telecom service provider, we remain committed to still taking 5G deployment to enhance 5G user experience in Taiwan,” Kuo added.
The operator was the first telco in Taiwan to receive a license for 5G services from the National Communications Commission (NCC). Chunghwa Telecom launched commercial 5G services in Taiwan based on the non-standalone (NSA) 5G architecture.
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 had selected Ericsson and Nokia as 5G RAN vendors. Ericsson said that it will use the vendor’s Radio System base stations and Ericsson’s 5G core, including its 5G Evolved Packet Core.
Ericsson’s 5G platform for CHT includes Ericsson Radio System base stations that will operate on 3.5 GHz for the mid-band and 28 GHz for the high band. The 5G solution will also include active antenna products while supporting beam-forming functions that reduce wireless signal interference and improve 5G speed, the vendor said.
Ericsson added that its spectrum-sharing solution will allow Chunghwa Telecom to make full use of spectrum resources to accelerate 5G network coverage and promote the smooth transition of the network to 5G.
Meanwhile, Nokia said that it had been selected to leverage Chunghwa Telecom’s existing LTE install base and spectrum resources to launch 5G non-standalone (NSA) involving multiple bands, paving the way for the launch of 5G via a standalone architecture in the near future.
Last month, Nokia announced that it has been selected by Chunghwa Telecom to expand the operator’s 5G network in Taiwan.
The expansion focuses on high-traffic areas, as well as locations with high business demand, including metropolitan cities, universities, subways, high-speed rail stations, industrial parks, and exhibition halls, and over 120 highly populated tourist hotspots. CHT is also expecting to further expand its enterprise footprint by enhancing its 4G/5G coverage as well as deploying private network solutions.
The Taiwanese telco plans to strengthen its cooperation with leading local manufacturers for industrial 4.0 applications using solutions in 3.5 GHz and 28 GHz spectrum to meet high-throughput requirements.
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