Taiwan Star today reviewed its 2015 operating performance, noting a 7% revenue growth. The company also secured a 2600MHz spectrum bid last year, using 5MHz of bandwidth in the 900MHz band. The full-area spectrum expansion was completed in mid-January, enabling network speeds of up to 75Mbps. The 2600MHz band is expected to be operational as early as the second quarter. Taiwan Star also announced the launch of innovative plans last year, including the "Guaranteed Lowest Price Single Number." In conjunction with the launch of its online store service, the company is actively expanding its physical store presence in Taiwan, offering a more comprehensive service through a combination of online and offline channels. The company expects mobile revenue to reach fourth place in the market this year.
According to Taiwan Star's general manager, Lai Hsien-wu, the company's annual revenue reached 90 billion yuan last year, with an annual growth of 7%. The annual growth rate of its 4G users reached 154%. It is expected that the company will continue to implement the highest CP value and provide better service quality this year. It is expected that the overall revenue will grow by 16% this year, and the number of 4G users will increase by 2.5 times. It will challenge the fourth place in the mobile communications revenue market in the second half of the year, and the number of physical stores is expected to expand to 500 (currently 350).
Regarding the 5MHz portion of the 900MHz band of the 2600MHz spectrum previously awarded, Taiwan Star announced that it had completed region-wide spectrum expansion in mid-January, achieving top speeds of 75Mbps. Taiwan Star plans to launch 2600MHz spectrum services as early as the second quarter of this year, which is expected to increase overall network speeds sixfold, reaching a maximum of 225Mbps. Furthermore, Taiwan Star will also increase indoor coverage by 60%, aiming to achieve 99% coverage across Taiwan.
To allow consumers to experience the new network service quality, Taiwan Star will offer a free one-month trial of its 4G "full network public beta," including both voice and internet access. In addition to launching a new 4G Super Speed 2 NT$ plan in January, starting at NT$699 per month and offering unlimited 4G internet and NT$2 per minute for inter-network and local calls, Taiwan Star also announced the countdown to its 3G rate discounts, with applications closing on February 29th.
As for the VoLTE digital voice call function that many consumers are currently concerned about, Taiwan Star stated that it is now available to iPhone 6 and iPhone 6s users. As long as consumers update their phones to the latest iOS version, they can enjoy the convenience brought by digital voice calls.
