Tatung Telecom, the telecom arm of Taiwan-based Tatung Group, recently announced plans to release orders for approximately 200 WiMAX base stations and related equipment by the end of 2007.

Qualified vendors include Motorola, Nortel, NEC, and Alcatel-Lucent.

The company also announced a schedule to launch WiMAX service in the fourth quarter of 2008, initially focusing on mobile Internet service based on WiMAX technology and then moving on to other applications, according to Chinese-language Economic Daily News, citing the company's president Lin Kuo Wen-yen.

Tatung Telecom also stated that the company will promote its service through Tatung Group's existing and new distribution channels - approximately 350 stores in total - by year-end 2008, according to the same report.