Taiwan’s internet is fast and cheap — but that’s a problem for its telecoms players.
The News Lens
Date: 2017/12/27
By: Timothy Ferry
Mobile phones are all the rage in Taiwan, with over 29 million devices in use in a society of
Photo Credit: Corbis/達志影像
23 million people, according to research by Berkshire Hathaway’s Business Wire. That market penetration of 127 percent compares to just 81 percent in the United States. Nearly all of Taiwan enjoys 4G network coverage, and the International Telecommunications Union (ITU), the global industry organization, anticipates that 5G technology will be introduced to the market as early as 2020.
Mobile internet access employs invisible radio signals transmitted to and from mobile phones, but substantial infrastructure is needed to support those transmissions. As the demand for higher data transmission rises, so does the amount of infrastructure required. Larger volumes of data transmission also necessitate the use of higher frequencies, but higher frequencies degrade faster, requiring more base stations to ensure adequate coverage. [FULL STORY]