Taipei to deploy citywide fiber-optic network

Wednesday, Jan 04, 2012

The Taipei City government has announced it has signed a 25-year contract with a consortium of 15 local and foreign companies led by Tai Tung Communication, a Taiwan-based maker of fiber-optic cable, for construction and operation of a citywide fiber-optic network to provide 100Mbps access to the Internet for 80% of the city's households.

The city government requires that the fiber-optic service be charged at a rate 10% lower than services offered by other operators.

The project calls for an estimated investment of NT$38.6 billion (US$1.28 billion) over the contract period of 25 years, consisting of NT$11 billion in establishing a fiber-optic infrastructure and NT$27.6 billion in operation, according to Tai Tung. The fiber-optic network will consist of: fiber-optic cable systems to be deployed mainly along sewage pipelines with a total length of about 3,000km; two master facilities; 10 area facilities; and 50 access facilities, Tai Tung said.

The consortium will set up a company specifically for the project and apply for a license with the National Communications Commission in April 2012, Tai Tung indicated.

Source: Digi Times