Taiwanese carrier Far EasTone (FET) has launched its commercial 5G network in some metropolitan areas across Taiwan.
Ericsson was the sole provider of the radio access network (RAN) and 5G core technology for this launch.
Far EasTone’s 5G network is powered by Ericsson Radio System and Ericsson Cloud Packet Core products and solutions, including Massive MIMO AIR 3239, Ericsson Spectrum Sharing, Uplink Booster and AI-powered 5G management.
The Taiwanese carrier has also deployed Ericsson Radio Dots on the 3.5 GHz band to boost indoor coverage.
FET also said it aims to deploy a total of 4,000 5G base stations across Taiwan by the end of the year to provide coverage to nearly half of the population.
Taipei Times reported that the operator plans to invest up to NT$30 billion ($1 billion) in its 5G network deployment over the next three years, as it expects half of its mobile subscribers to migrate to 5G services by 2023. As of the end of February, the telco had a total mobile base of 7.08 subscribers.
The telco’s president Chee Ching reportedly said said that having 1 million of its subscribers upgrade to 5G within the next 12 months is a “very achievable” goal.
FET had previously secured 80 megahertz in the 3.5 GHz band and 400 megahertz in the 28 GHz band.
The carrier also plans to use big data analysis to provide tailored services including “e-commerce, mobile financial services, audio-visual and e-sports entertainment, and other value-added” content.
Three 5G handset models from Samsung, Sharp and Sony are available, according to the report.
Rival operators Chunghwa Telecom launched commercial 5G services on July 1 using equipment from Ericsson. Ericsson has deployed Ericsson Radio System 5G non-standalone technology on the 3.5 GHz and 2.1 GHz bands for Chunghwa Telecom.
Chunghwa Telecom has been deploying 5G base stations in the municipalities of Taipei, New Taipei, Taoyuan, Taichung, Tainan and Kaohsiung.
Meanwhile, Taiwan Mobile expects to deploy 4,000 5G base stations by the end of this year, according to previous reports. Taiwan Mobile expects to launch commercial 5G services in the third quarter of the year, using equipment provided by Nokia.
Taiwan Mobile had acquired 60 megahertz of spectrum in the 3.5 GHz band and 200 megahertz of the 28 GHz frequency.
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