Chunghwa Telecom

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Not to be confused with China Telecom.

Chunghwa Telecom (Traditional Chinese: 中華電信; Hanyu Pinyin: Zhōnghuá Diànxìn; Wade-Giles: Chung¹-hua² Tien⁴-hsin⁴) (NYSE : CHT) is the largest telecommunications company in Taiwan. Prior to the 1980s, the telecom industry of the Republic of China was completely nationalized, and the company has its roots as the operating branch of the General Bureau of Telecommunications (電信總局) under the Ministry of Transportation and Communications (中華民國交通部). Due to martial law being in effect at the time, special regulations gave the Defence ministry and police agencies the power to interfere in the telecom industry for national security reasons. However, during the 1990s, public demand grew to deregulate the telecommunications sector, and the government has since carried out a privatization policy. In 1996 a series of 3 telecom laws were passed that split up the Bureau and created Chunghwa Telecom as a government corporation, and reformed the Bureau solely as an industry regulator. Although still wholly government-owned at that time, plans to privatize were underway by 1997. As of August 2005, the percentage of government ownership has been reduced to less than 50%.

In addition to traditional landline services, Chunghwa Telecom is also currently the largest mobile phone operator in Taiwan as of 2006.^[1] Internet services are offered under the brand name HiNet.

[edit] Name change

In February, 2007, the government of Taiwan announced that the name of the company would be changed to Taiwan Telecom. This has been opposed by union and opposition lawmakers. It has not yet been reported when this change will be effective.^[2] This is occurring at the same time that Chunghwa Post, Chinese Petroleum Corporation, and China Steel, among other state-own companies, face impending name changes.