Market in Taiwan. Does CLST have a piece of the pie? ( GTE is a
partner of Pacific Cellular.)
================================================================
Content of article appearing in Wall Street Journal Interactive Edition - January 20, 1998
Pacific Cellular Says It Will Ring Up Profit in the First Year
By: Leslie Chang
Staff Reporter of the Wall Street Journal
Taipei, Taiwan -- Pacific Cellular Corp. expects its recently launched cellular phone service to turn a profit this year, far ahead of initial projections, a top executive says.
"We'll be profitable in year one", says Joseph Fan, executive vice president at Pacific Cellular, a unit of Taiwan's Pacific Electric Wire & Cable Group. He estimates earnings will between NT$100 million (US$3million) and NT$200million this year, and that eventually the service will be the biggest source of revenue for the group.
The company, the first of two private island-wide cellular phone services to start operations and compete with the existing state-owned concern, formally launched service on Jan. 8, following a partial launch in mid-December. The company said it has 180,000 subscribers and on average is signing up 5,300 subscribers per daily.
At this point, a tight supply of telephone handsets is checking growth, Mr. Fan says. "If it weren't for a shortage of handsets, I'd have 250,000 subscribers today," he says.
The bulk of subscribers -- 84% -- are between the ages of 21 and 40, according to the company. That suggests that many are first time users mobile phone users rather than customers poached from Chung Hwa Telecommunications Corp., Mr. Fan says. Subscribers are evenly divided between those signing up for business and personal use.
Pacific has built a network of 950 base stations around the island and will have more than 1,100 up by March. That should provide phone service on all parts of the island other than the basements of buildings, Mr. Fan says. |
