Taiwan Mobile, a mobile phone operator based in Taiwan, was initially part of a divestment strategy from the now non-operational Pacific Electric Wire & Cable Co. Ltd (PEWC). PEWC began their telecom venture by acquiring a 5% stake in Iridium LLC in 1994, followed by a successful bid for a Hong Kong PCS license in 1995, which later became P Plus Communications. PEWC also pursued business development opportunities and tender bids for various wireless licenses in China, Vietnam, Singapore, Indonesia, and the Philippines. However, they ultimately returned to Taiwan to bid for the newly liberalised licenses in 1996 and 1997. Taiwan Mobile has since acquired stakes in Taiwan Fixed Network. Previously known as Pacific Cellular Corporation (PCC), Taiwan Mobile was part of an investment portfolio that included PEWC, PCC, and Pacific Iridium. The company also invested in various telecom and internet businesses and underwent a series of mergers and acquisitions with retail distribution companies, a CRM company, and an engineering company that received outsourcing contracts from combined cellular and phone companies.
3G Network
After secured its first GSM operating licence in December 1997 the company commenced a national rollout of an 1800 MHz 2G GSM service. Granted a 3G operating licence in 2002, Taiwan Mobile spent several years deploying its 3G network which was switched on in May 2005 - the first company in Taiwan to launch a 3G network. The network used a B1 (2100 MHz) carrier, and was later upgraded to support HSPA+ data services in 2011 and DC-HSPA+ in November that same year.
In January 2018 the Taiwanese government mandated that all 3G networks were to be switched off by the end of 2018, with the valuable spectrum to be refarmed to improve LTE services.
3G Frequency Bands
3G Network Events
| Date | Event | Subtype |
|---|---|---|
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|
Launch of 3G Network
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Launch
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4G Network
Taiwan Mobile's 4G LTE services began in June 2014 using a 15 MHz B28 (700 MHz) carrier. B3 (1800 MHz) was added in September 2014 using a 5 MHz channel, with 2CC carrier aggregation used to increase peak data rates. With the company securing a further 5 MHz of 700 MHz spectrum in March 2015 and 6.3 MHz of 1800 MHz spectrum in May 2015, B28 was extended to 20 MHz and B3 extended to 10 MHz. Refarming of 1800 MHz GSM services later permitting B3 channel size to be extended to 15 MHz.
Following the switch-off of 2100 MHz 3G, the company announced a new 20 MHz B1 (2100 MHz) LTE service with 3C CA was launched early 2019. LTE-A Pro features including 256QAM were implemented shortly after.
Taiwan Mobile IoT
Taiwan Mobile announced the deployment of a national NB-IoT network in March 2018, with the company announcing its target of 100% coverage by mid-2018.
4G Frequency Bands
| Network Frequency Band | Max. Channel Bandwidth | Status |
|---|---|---|
|
20
|
Active
|
|
|
15
|
Active
|
|
|
20
|
Active
|
4G Network Events
| Date | Event | Subtype |
|---|---|---|
|
|
Launch of 4G Network
|
Launch
|
5G Network
Taiwan Mobile conducted a series of 5G trials over the course of 2019, employing C-band 3.5 GHz. The company launched 5G services in July 2020, with both FR1 and FR2 bands activated.
5G Frequency Bands
| Network Frequency Band | Max. Channel Bandwidth | Status |
|---|---|---|
|
60
|
Active
|
|
|
200
|
Active
|
5G Network Events
| Date | Event | Subtype |
|---|---|---|
|
|
Launch of 5G Network
|
Launch
|