May 3, 2006
Chunghwa Telecom (CHT) announced on Apr. 12 that it would complete construction of a Next Generation Network (NGN) by 2013, at a cost between
NTD 120 billion and 130 billion.
CHT's plans, which acknowledge convergence trends among telecom and Internet providers worldwide, call for investment in new telecommunications equipment that supports combined fixed-line, cellular phone and internet services.
Given the enormous costs associated with constructing an NGN, a number of international companies are expected to explore available the business opportunities, particularly Cisco, Alcatel, Nortel, Siemens and Juniper. CHT has already established contact with Lucent, Siemens, Nortel and Juniper and has tested their NGN equipment.
CHT's new NGN equipment will comprise a fully digitized communications architecture that combines fixed-line, mobile phone, and internet data services in a single network platform. One prominent NGN system in use is British Telecom's 21CN.
Chunghwa Telecom North District Vice President John Hsueh said that preliminary stages of the new network will involve handling long-distance and international calls through Internet Protocols (
IP), eventually moving on to local calls.
The company says that as data transfer becomes more and more complicated, consumers are not concerned about the choice of using a cell phone, fixed line or the Internet – rather, the most important factor is convenience of use, which NGN will address as the next generation telecom network.
(Economic Daily News)
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