Taiwanese telecom operator Chunghwa Telecom has entered into an agreement with Ericsson, under which they will collaborate in the deployment of Taiwan's first LTE (Long Term Evolution) trial network leveraging Ericsson's LTE base stations, Taiwan's Economic Daily reported on December 18. Chunghwa Telecom's Chunghwa Telecom Laboratories stated that it will set up a LTE trial network in northern Taiwan, which is slated for operations in March 2010, with initial results released in mid-2010, according to the same source. Furthermore, Chunghwa Telecom will also partner with Taiwan's ITRI (Industrial Technology Research Institute) and III (Institute for Information Industry) in the development of LTE trial networks. Financial details of the investment, however, were not yet disclosed.

 

Meanwhile, Chunghwa Telecom also signed a cooperation agreement with Xiamen municipal government through its subsidiary Chunghwa Investment, as part of its efforts to expand market presence, Dow Jones reported on December 15. Under the agreement, they will establish a JV to manage call center and system integration services for Chinese and Taiwanese enterprises operating in Xiamen, southern China. The JV is initially capitalized at 30 million RMB (US$4.4 million; US$1 = 6.8 RMB) in total, with Chunghwa Telecom owning a 49% stake of JV, and the Xiamen municipal government holding the remaining 51%, according again to the same source. This investment, however, is still pending approval by Taiwan's government.