FarEasTone
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
FarEasTone is a GSM/WCDMA mobile phone operator in Taiwan.
Far EasTone was awarded two wireless (GSM 900 and GSM 1800) service licenses in January 1997. Far EasTone launched its service and the first fully integrated dual-band system in the world in January 1998 to provide high-quality GSM services to all Taiwanese people.
Far EasTone was the first to offer Taiwan consumers numerous value-added services such as: the Java 32K SIM Toolkit, mobile banking, m-commerce, real-time access to financial, entertainment and headline news, mobile fax/mail; logo download and e-coupons.
Far EasTone was the first company in the world to design and build a network based on integrated dual-band (GSM 900 and GSM 1800) technology.
In March 1999, after only fourteen months in business, Far EasTone achieved one million revenue-producing customers, reaching this milestone faster than any other GSM operator in the world.
In the year 2000, Far EasTone's revenues reached NT$32.18 billion and after-tax net income was NT$4.039 billion. The company’s total revenue for the year 2001 was NT$34,544 million and the EPS is NT$3.52. The company was listed on the Taiwan OTC Stock Exchange in December 2001 under the ticker code 4904.
In the year 2002, Far EasTone's subsidiary Yuan-Ze Telecommunications has won a 3G license in Taiwan (License A) at a price of NTD 10,169 million, or NT$ 12.86 per MHz per head of population, the lowest price to date in Asia for a 3G license on the 2GHz band.
In March 2003, FET marched into the next generation mobile service - FET Br@vo which is the first multimedia service plans in Taiwan. The Br@vo service plans provide FET customers a comprehensive offer to enjoy the mobile multimedia life. In March 2003, made the Taiwan’s first live 3G video call, marking a significant step forward in the evolution and development of multimedia services succeeding its launch of FETBr@vo services. In the same year of July, Far EasTone Enhanced its Multimedia Portfolio with Innovative Video Clips via MyFETBr@vo.
Far EasTone merged KG Telecom at the early of 2004 and this merger is the largest the Taiwan telecom industry has ever seen and makes the much larger and stronger FET the leader among the Big 3 Taiwan telecom companies.
FET commercially launched “FET 3G Multimedia Services” in July 2005 and was officially listed on the Taiwan Stock Exchange in the electronic sector in August, 2005. Meanwhile, according to Oct. 24, 2005 issue of BusinessWeek, FET was ranked among one of Asian BusinessWeek’s top 150 Asian leading performers. FET was the only Taiwan telecom operator to make the list.
