Total Price:
$1.398 billion

Winners:
- Chunghwa ($270m)
- Taiwan Cellular ($373m)
- Yuan-Ze Telecom ($270m)
- Taiwan PCS ($204m)
- Asia Pacific Broadband ($281m)

Rules Governing The 3G Mobile Telecommunications Service

Telecommunications Service Directorate General of Telecommunications

The Taiwanese auction has now concluded with five companies deciding to bid for licenses allowing them to offer 3G services.

The auction ended when 3GO, a newcomer to the mobile telecoms market, dropped out of the bidding. In what has been the most competitive auction in recent months, the bidding has sky-rocketed over 45 per cent from the floor price, and has finally reached a new total of about TWD49bn (EUR1.92bn) The final bids were as follows:

Chunghwa TWD10.17 bn (EUR336.8m)
Taiwan Cellular TWD10.28 bn (EUR340.5m)
Yuan-Ze Telecom TWD10.16 bn (EUR336.5m)
Taiwan PCS TWD7.7 bn (EUR255m)
Asia Pacific Broadband TWD10.57 bn (EUR350m)

Seven companies handed in applications, back in December, to enter the contest but KG Telecom, backed by DoCoMo left the contest before the bidding even began. It is believed that the population of 23 million and a market penetration of over 90 per cent were both strong factors leading to such competitive bidding.

Taiwan's auction of third-generation mobile licenses ended its ninth day Friday with bids for License E hitting NT$9.009 billion (US$1=NT$35.057) and topping the other four on sale.

License A: Taiwan PCS Network remained the highest bidder with NT$8.495 billion.

License B: 3GO Telecommunications Corp. remained the highest bidder with NT$6.008 billion.

License C: Taiwan Cellular Corp. had the highest bid of NT$8.418 billion.

License D: Chunghwa Telecom Co. bid was unchallenged, staying at NT$8.495 billion.

License E: Asia Pacific Broadband Wireless Communications Inc. posted the highest bid of NT$9.009 billion.

Taiwan's auction of five third-generation mobile licenses ended its eighth day Thursday, with bids totaling NT$39.665 billion (US1=NT$35.076) and Yuan-Ze Telecom Co. in its fourth day of being outbid for a license.

License A: Taiwan PCS Network Inc. remained the highest bidder, with an offer of NT$8.326 billion.

License B: 3GO Telecommunications Corp. continued to lead the bids for the license with NT$5.771 billion.

License C: Taiwan Cellular Corp. remained the highest bidder with NT$8.418 billion.

License D: Chunghwa Telecom Co. remained the highest bidder with NT$8.495 billion.

License E: Asia Pacific Broadband Wireless Communications Inc. posted the highest bid of NT$8.655 billion.

The auction for Taiwan's five third-generation mobile licenses continued for a seventh day Wednesday, with the six contenders pushing the total bids up to NT$38.878 billion (US$1=NT$35.082).

License A: Taiwan PCS Network Inc. put in highest bid of NT$8.161 billion.

License B: 3GO Telecommunications Corp. was the highest bidder with an offer of NT$5.656 billion.

License C: Taiwan Cellular Corp. had the highest bid of NT$8.251 billion.

License D: Chunghwa Telecom Co. Ltd. had the highest bid of NT$8.326 billion.

License E: Asia Pacific Broadband Wireless Communications Inc. still has the highest bid of NT$8.484 billion.

Taiwan's auction of third-generation mobile licenses saw a dramatic realignment of bids Tuesday, as the six contenders shifted around their bids for the five licenses on offer.

License A: Taiwan PCS Network Inc. put in the highest bid of NT$8.0 billion.

License B: 3GO Telecommunications Corp. had the highest bid at NT$5.656 billion.

License C: Taiwan Cellular Corp. had the highest bid at NT$8.088 billion.

License D: Chunghwa Telecom Co. had the highest bid at NT$7.826 billion.

License E: Asia Pacific Broadband Wireless Communications Inc. put in the highest bid of NT$8.484 billion.

Taiwan's auction of five third-generation wireless licenses ended its fifth day Monday with strong bidding for two licenses based on the wideband code division multiple access system. Total bids for the five licenses reached NT$36.7 billion (US$1=NT$34.998).

License A: Taiwan Cellular Corp. , in which Verizon Communications (VZ) of the U.S. holds a stake, has made the highest bid so far at NT$7.676 billion.

License B: 3GO Telecommunications Corp. has made the highest bid so far of NT$5.243 billion.

License C: Taiwan PCS Network Inc. made the highest bid of NT$7.802 billion.

License D: State-run Chunghwa Telecom Co. made the highest bid at NT$7.671 billion.

License E: Asia Pacific Broadband Wireless Communications Inc. made the highest bid of NT$8.305 billion.

The second day of Taiwan's auction of five 3G wireless licences ended on Thursday with four licences uncontested and only mobile incumbent Far EasTone facing a counter bid.

The battle for the licence sought by Far EasTone throughout Thursday will extend the auction into a third day, as the competition closes only when none of the six competitors submit new bids.

By the close of Thursday's eight rounds of bidding, Far EasTone continued to hold licence "B", but its offer had risen to T$4.598 billion (US$131 million), up from Wednesday's bid of T$4.242 billion.

The rise was due to a challenge from 3GO, a newly formed consortium led by personal computer maker First International Computer and home appliance firm Teco Electric, which had pursued licence "E" on Wednesday.

All bids on the remaining four licences were unchanged from Wednesday's final round.

Taiwan Cellular, Taiwan's largest private mobile operator, held licence "A" with a T$7.676 billion offer, up one percent from the minimum, while state-controlled Chunghwa Telecom held "D" at T$6.802 billion, against T$6.7 billion previously.

Taiwan PCS Network, a new firm with backing from Yulon Motors had "C" with a T$7.802 billion offer, while licence "E", the only one contested on Wednesday, was held by Eastern Broadband Telecom at T$8.139 billion.

Taiwan will continue the auction of its 3G mobile licenses Thursday, said Kao Kai-sheng, deputy director general of the government's Directorate of Telecommunications. Taiwan closed the first day of its auction for its five 3G licenses after eight bidding rounds that resulted in bids totaling NT$34.66 billion (US$1=NT$35.00) Wednesday.

As of the end of Wednesday, the auction results were as follows:

For license A, Taiwan Cellular Corp. (Q.TCE) posted the highest bid of NT$7.767 billion, compared with a floor price of NT$7.76 billion.
- For license A, Taiwan Cellular Corp. posted the highest bid of NT$7.767 billion, compared with a floor price of NT$7.76 billion.
- For license B, Yuan-Ze Telecom Co. posted the highest bid of NT$4.424 billion, compared with a floor price of NT$4.2 billion.
- For license C, Taiwan PCS Network Inc. posted the highest bid of NT$7.802 billion, compared with a floor price of NT$7.6 billion.
- For license D, Chunghwa Telecom Co. posted the highest bid of NT$6.802 billion, compared with a floor price of NT$6.7 billion.
- Bidding for license E between 3GO Telecommunications Corp. Ltd. and Asia Pacific Broadband Wireless Communications Inc. was heated. Asia Pacific closed with the upper hand Wednesday, just in front of 3GO's last bidding price of NT$8.056 billion.

Taiwan's telecoms regulator said the first of several rounds of bidding on five licenses for third generation , or 3G, wireless telecommunications services would begin on Wednesday, 16th. An official of Taiwan's Directorate General of Telecoms said on Tuesday bidding would proceed in half-hour rounds, and could be raised by a maximum of seven percent in each successive round. The government has set minimum prices on each licence which range from NT$4.2 billion (US$122 million) to NT$7.6 billion (US$211 million), depending on the amount of spectrum included.

No leading bidder will be allowed to raise its own bid, and the process will continue until there are no new bids, the official said. The six companies taking part in the auction are Chunghwa Telecom, Taiwan Cellular, Far EasTone, Eastern Broadband Telecom, 3GO and Union Telecom.

Taiwan will hold Asia's first competitive auction for the right to provide 3G mobile phone services, after seven players threw their hat into the ring on Tuesday to battle for five licences.

The Directorate General of Telecommunications, the industry regulator, received seven applications for the licences on Tuesday, the deadline for requests. The bidding process will begin in January and is expected to be completed by the end of the month. That the base price of the 5 3G licenses is 33.6 billion TWD ($973 million).

Taiwan will sell five 3rd generation mobile licenses at prices between from T$4.2 billion (US$1=T$34.549) to T$7.6 billion through an auction slated for late December, the island's Ministry of Transportation and Communications said Tuesday. The ministry will be accepting applications between Oct. 19 and Dec. 18.

The Taiwanese government has announced that it may begin accepting applications for 3G spectrum as early as next week. Five licences will be up for grabs and the authorities are aiming to have completed the sale by the end of the year. The final auction rules, including the minimum price of each licence, will be announced over the next few days and the auction is likely to be held in December.

Taiwan has stated that it is to auction five licenses, contrary to the current weak market conditions for 3G licenses. It had been expected that Taiwan would use the opportunity to consolidate the industry, by issuing fewer licenses. Taiwan's Directorate General of Telecoms has finalised draft plans for the auction and wants to have licenses awarded by the end of this year.

Taiwan's Ministry of Transportation and Communications, which has been debating the subject for over twelve months, said on Monday it would postpone taking applications for 3G wireless licences to the end of September, but still aimed to issue them before the end of the year.

Taiwan's Ministry of Transportation and Communications has decided to announce publicly the "Regulation of 3G Cellular Phone Services Management" in September. The move is expected to set the basic principles for 3G license competition, and could make sure how many telecommunication companies will apply for 3G licenses after preparation for more than one year.

Taiwan's telecommunications regulator said on Monday it would postpone taking applications for 3G wireless licenses to August, but still aimed to issue them before the end of the year. Once the ministry announced 3G rules in August, it would take applications immediately with a deadline initially set at mid-November, the official said. After reviewing the applications between mid-November and early December, the ministry would conduct auctions for the licenses and announce the winners by the end of December, he said.

Taiwan's transportation and communications ministry said at a press conference the government had approved a plan to auction five 3G licences and will begin taking applications in July, with the deadline set at October. The government planned to start reviewing the submissions in October and conduct the auction close door in mid-November and then award the five licenses in early December.

The government of Taiwan on Friday said it will issue five licenses 3G mobile communication services in December this year for US$480million each. Winning bidders will be announced in December, said a statement released by Taiwan's Ministry of Transportation and Communication (MTC). Operators would have to pay for 30 percent of the bid price as a down payment for the license and the rest by installments.

Possible bidders for Taiwan's 3G licences include the state-owned former mobile monopoly Chunghwa Telecom, the current market leader Taiwan Cellular, Far EasTone of the Far Eastern group, and KG Telecom of the Koo's corporate family.

The Taiwanese government is reportedly weighing a proposal to auction five licenses for 3G mobile communication services in October each valid for 15 years and cover services islandwide . The ministry plans to announce the winners at the end of 2001.

Taiwan's transportation and communications ministry said on Friday it will submit a plan to auction five 3G wireless telecommunications licences for cabinet approval.

Operators known to be interested in a Taiwan 3G licence include Chunghwa Telecom, Taiwan Cellular, Far EasTone, Lin Yuan Group and KG Telecom.