Taiwan's FarEasTone Telecommunications said it will launch 3.5G wireless Internet connection services by the end of September to boost non-voice revenue, a Dow Jones report said.
The Dow Jones report said the carrier is the second Taiwanese mobile operator to offer the HSDPA services, following its bigger rival Chunghwa Telecom, which reflects the efforts by the island's operators to increase their data revenue when growth of voice revenue has been slow.
Initially, FarEastone will only offer HSDPA data cards that can be used on notebooks and desktop computers, the Dow Jones report said.
The report said the carrier plans to sell HSDPA-enabled phones late this year or early next year, according to said Roger Chen, FarEasTone's director of wireless multimedia service.
FarEasTone president Jan Nilsson was quoted by Dow Jones as saying that the company is targeting data business, but he declined to give the company's estimated revenue from HSDPA services.
Analysts said the main problem for telecom operators remains stagnant growth in a saturated market, a slow 3G migration due to high handset prices, and a lack of attractive content available for download, the Dow Jones report further said.