(Associated Press via NewsEdge) Taiwan's Chunghwa Telecom plans to spend nearly $4 billion over the next five years to upgrade its telecommunications networks and build a new undersea cable system, chairman Ho Chen Tan said.
The spending plans were in place before an earthquake off Taiwan's southern coast last week damaged data transmission cables, disrupting telephone and Internet links across Asia.
Chunghwa Telecom, the island's largest communications company, says two ships are arriving in the area and will take two to three weeks to repair the cables.
The spending plans include earmarking around NT$68 billion ($2.09 billion) for spending on its mobile network.
Chunghwa Telecom is working with Verizon Communications and four Asian operators to build a $500 million trans-Pacific undersea cable system directly linking the US and China.
The company will also spend around NT$61 billion ($1.88 billion) on upgrading its fixed-line network by replacing the existing copper lines with fiber-optic cables, Ho Chen said.
'By moving to a fiber-optic network, we hope not only to provide faster connection, but also spur the usage of value-added services,' he said.
The company hopes that within five years its fiber-optic network will reach 25% of Taiwan's 7.39 million households, said Chunghwa Telecom SVP Chang Feng-Hsiung.
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