Taiwan’s Chunghwa Telecom has reportedly launched a pilot scheme testing 1Gbps internet services, according to CENS.com. It is understood that the trials of the ultrafast speeds are being conducted in five metropolitan cities, namely Taipei, New Taipei, Taichung, Tainan and Kaohsiung.
Alongside the testing of 1Gbps connections, it was noted that Chunghwa will continue to push its current top-end fibre-based products, which offer downlink speeds of up to 50Mbps. The latest data provided by the operator earlier this month revealed that it had signed up over 2.52 million subscribers to its fibre broadband tariffs, with 530,000 of those opting for the 50Mbps package. 100Mbps speeds meanwhile are expected to be introduced later this year.
Chunghwa Telecom chairman S.J. Lu was cited as saying that his company has spent between TWD20 billion and TWD30 billion (USD689 million to USD1 billion) on upgrading broadband and mobile networks in each of the past ten years. Looking ahead the telco expects to spend around TWD200 million in the ten-year period from 2011 on infrastructure projects, with Mr Lu adding that the construction of its fibre-optic broadband network is one of the company’s primary focus.