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Date: 5/1/2020
By: Riobert Clark

Taiwan's telcos are feeling some of the pain of the coronavirus, but the impending arrival of 5G could be a bigger disruption.

Market leader Chunghwa Telecom posted a modest Q1 result Thursday, with earnings off 0.4% to NT$8.3 billion (US$280 million) and total revenue 6.2% lower at NT$48.2 billion ($1.61 billion).

President and CFO Harrison Kuo said the pandemic had slowed down overall economic activity and cut Chunghwa's enterprise and international roaming revenue.

Mobile revenue was down 7.9% to NT$22.5 billion ($754 million), which he attributed to the fall in handset sales from COVID-19 and higher market competition, including OTT providers.
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