Taiwan's telecom regulator has set a tentative date of December 2013 for the allocation of the island's first LTE licenses.
An official for the National Telecommunications Commission told wire service AFP that it plans to start accepting bids for up to eight LTE licenses late next year.
Under the draft timeline, LTE services would be launched in 2015. This will leave Taiwan late to the LTE game compared to many of its Asian peers, due to the country historically placing its bets on Wimax.
The government's schedule for arranging a 4G auction and allocating licenses has been a little uncertain over the year.
Last November, the government revealed plans to conduct the auction in 2013. But in March, NCC minister Su Herng told a round-table of government and telecom industry officials that the issuing of 4G licenses will be completed by June 2014, according toTaiwan Today.
Four months later, minister without portfolio Simon Chang reportedly said the government has no fixed timeline for issuing 4G licenses, and must first consider factors such as the maturity of LTE technologies and the market.
Chang in February also told Taiwanese media that if LTE becomes Taiwan's new de-facto 4G standard, the government will also have to address the issue of what to do with the nation's Wimax licensees in the name of fairness.