Chunghwa Telecom Added 10K IPTV Subscribers in 1Q09

Chunghwa Telecom added 10,000 IPTV subscribers in 1Q09, giving it 686,000 at the end of the quarter. It plans to strengthen its offering by repackaging and introducing premium content, with new marketing programs, and by introducing interactive capabilities.

This was a significant drop in new subscribers. I expect that the current economic crisis had a lot to do with it.

Chunghwa Telecom Added 85K Subscribers in 4Q08

Chunghwa Telecom of Taiwan added 85,000 IPTV subscribers in 4Q08, ending the quarter with 676,000 subscribers. It came quite close to meeting its revised target of 700,000 IPTV subscribers at the end of 2008. It reported that then number of subscribers to its Golden TV premium package grew from 12,804 at the end of 2007 to 117,822 at the end of 2008.

Chunghwa added 123.9 fiber subscribers giving it a total of 1,069,700 fiber subscribers at the end of 2008. It provides fibers services to 16,600 buildings, which it said represents 91 percent market share among all operators. The company expects that it will have more fiber than ADSL subscribers in 2011.

Chunghwa continues to make steady progress with both its IPTV and fiber services.

Chungwa Telecom Adds 82K IPTV Subscribers in 3Q08

Chunghwa Telecom of Taiwan added 82,000 IPTV subscribers to its MOD service in 3Q08 ending the quarter with 591,000 subscribers. A previous report stated that the company now has 603,000 IPTV subscribers and has reduced its target for 2008 from 800,000 to 700,000.

Chungwa also added 51,000 FTTB subscribers in 3Q08 ending the quarter with 833,000. It expects that the number of its fiber subscribers will exceed the number of ADSL subscribers by 2011.

Chunghwa continues to grow at a steady rate. Its goal of 700,000 IPTV subscribers by the end of 2008 is within its reach.

Chunghwa Backing Off Microsoft Mediaroom

It has been reported that Chunghwa Telecom of Taiwan plans to shift more than 3,000 users currently trialing Microsoft Mediatoom to the Alcatel-Lucent-developed OMP. Chunghwa originally planned to switch its user base to MSTV in place of OMP but has not yet committed to the decision. Currently there are more than 80 channels available on CHTs OMP system but fewer than 40 channels through Microsoft's Mediaroom.

It has also been reported that Chunghwa has has further reduced the target number of its IPTV subscribers for the end of 2008 from 800,000 to 700,000. In July, Chunghwa lowered the target number from one million to 800,000. The company currently claims about 603,000 subscribers.

It is not clear what backing off of the Microsoft Mediaroom trial means. It could be that this is part of a long term transition plan or it could mean that Chunghwa is backing away from Mediaroom. Time will tell.

Chunghwa Telecom Adds 73K IPTV Subscribers in 2Q08

Chunghwa Telecom, the incumbent carrier in Taiwan, added 73 thousand IPTV subscribers to its MOD service ending the quarter with 508 thousand.

Chunghwa stated that its coverage of the Olympics significantly increased the viewing of its IPTV service:

• The maximum number of households viewing its IPTV service increased by a factor of 1.6 compared to before the Games.
• IPTV video on demand views were 3.3 times higher and Internet page views were 11.3 times higher compared to before the Games.
• The number of video clips viewed, page views and traffic over its mobile portal “emome”
  were 15.8, 10, and 10 times times higher, respectively, compared to before the
  Games.

Chunghwa also added 148 thousand FTTB subscribers in the quarter, giving it a total about 800 thousand. It stated that 32.1 percent of its ADSL and FTTx subscribers have speeds greater than 8 Mbps.

Chunghwa continues to grow its IPTV service at a rate of at least 20o thousand new subscribers per year. Its Olympics experience shows the power of a big event in bringing viewers to the service.

Chunghwa Telecom Starting Microsoft Deployment

According to an article in the Taiwan Economic News, Chungwha Telecom now has 10 thousand IPTV subscribers on its Microsoft Mediaroom platform. Microsoft and Taiwan's Chunghwa Telecom will launch the IPTV Ecosystem Development Center in Taiwan to focus on the IPTV market. This operation will work with Taiwan`s set-top box makers and content providers to tap markets overseas.

Chunghwa is using Tatung set-top boxes to support its 10 thousand Mediaroom subscribers. It is using Asustek and Hon Hai set-top boxes for its 480 thousand Alcatel-Lucent's OMP middleware, giving it a current total of 490 thousand IPTV subscribers.

This is the start of the insertion of Microsoft's Mediaroom into Chunghwa's IPTV service. It took Chunghwa several years to convert 40 thousand Orca subscribers to Alcatel-Lucent's OMP. It will be interesting to see how this process will work for Mediaroom.

Chunghwa Telecom at 435K IPTV Subscribers

Chunghwa Telecom of Taiwan ended 1Q08 with 435 thousand MOD IPTV subscribers. This is an increase of 41 thousand in the quarter and a growth of 52.7 percent over the previous 12 months.

Chunghwa's MOD IPTV service increased its video on demand library to 5,000 hours, an increase of 500 hours in the quarter. It also offers more than 60 broadcast chanels. It plans to add HD for the Beijing Olympics and Major League Baseball.

Chunghwa now has 634.5 thousand FTTx subscribers, which is up 97.7 thousand in the quarter and 391.3 thousand over the previous 12 months.

IPTV continues to grow steadily. It should easily add more subscribers in 2008 than the 150 thousand it added in 2007.

Chunghwa Telecom Ends 2007 with 394K IPTV Subscribers

Chunghwa Telecom, the incumbent in Taiwan, ended 2007 with 394 thousand subscribers to its MOD IPTV service. This is up from 249 thousand at the end of 2006.

Chunghwa has 4,500 hours of video on demand content available and updates 400 to 500 hours each week. It also offer more than 60 broadcast channels, which is up from 32 channels in 2006. It will also offer the 2008 Olympic games in HD as well as some baseball games.

Chunghwa is also making significant progress with its fiber deployments. Its fiber subscriptions increased from 185.3 thousand at the end of 2006, to 536.9 thousand at the end 2007 an increase of more than 350 thousand. It currently provides fiber services in 15,383 buildings, which is 90 percent market share among all fiber operators in Taiwan.

Chunghwa is raising the bandwidth of its DSL services as well in order to better serve its IPTV service. At the end of 2007, 28.5 percent of its broadband subscribers had speeds in excess of 8 Mbps., which is up from 20.6 percent at the end of 2006.

Chunghwa is continuing rapid but steady progress with its IPTV service. 2008 should be a good year for it as well.

Chunghwa Adds 24k IPTV Subscribers (corrected)

Chunghwa Telecom in Taiwan added 24 thousand IPTV subscribers in 3Q07 giving it a total of 358 thousand subscribers. This is an increase of 109 thousand since the beginning of 2007 and 153 thousand in the previous 12 months.

It stated that it has 4,500 hours per month of video on content. (correction) Its Major League Baseball gaming service had 1.1 million hits across its IPTV, 3G mobile, and Internet platforms.

Chunghwa plans to provide HD coverage of the Beijing Olympics in 2008.

Chunghwa is still adding subscribers at the rate of 150 thousand per year. It will hit that level in 2007 if it adds the same number of subscriber in 4Q07 that it added in 4Q06. It should add significantly more subscribers in 2008 based on its impending island wide service roll out.

Chunghwa Telecom Interview

I had an interview with Chunghwa Telecom. Chunghwa now has 360 thousand IPTV subscribers for its Multimedia On Demand (MOD) service that it offers in Taipei and the other two largest cities in Taiwan. It expects its IPTV network to receive a government license before the end of 2007. With that license it will be able to deploy IPTV across the entire island of Taiwan. This license will also provide Chunghwa access to additional TV channels and other content that will bring its service up to the same level as the cable companies in Taiwan.

Chunghwa is currently conducting trials of HD content that it expects to introduce in 2008. The cable companies in Taiwan are not able to offer HD content, so this will give Chunghwa a significant competitive advantage. It believes that there will be strong interest in HD in Taiwan.

Chunghwa’s karaoke on demand and game offerings are also popular. Many subscribers use its karaoke on demand service. It offers a finger-guessing game that was developed on Japan using adult contents. The Major League Baseball game is also popular because many people are following Chien-Ming Wang, who plays for the New York Yankees.

Chunghwa’s IPTV service is based on the following systems:

• Alcatel access systems along with its installed base of ECI systems for ADSL-2+.
• It will soon start deploying EPON based on Sumitomo systems
• Video headend from Ericsson’s Tandberg TV
• Video on demand from Alcatel
• Middleware is Alcatel’s OMP system
• Content security from Widevine
• Set-top boxes form Foxconn and Hwacom

Chunghwa’s technology base has been evolving since it introduced its service. It used Orca middleware and Pace set-top boxes for its first 40 thousand subscribers and then switched to Alcatel-Lucent’s OMP and both Foxconn and Hwacom set-top boxes. Moving its subscribers from Orca and Pace to its current systems has been difficult and is just now completing.

Chunghwa expects to continue its evolution and is currently considering converting to the Microsoft Media Room IPTV software. There was an announcement in May of a broad joint relationship between Microsoft and Chunghwa that included moving its MOD service to the Media Room.

Chunghwa is making good progress and it looks like its IPTV service should accelerate next year after it receives its certification. It is following a difficult technical path with all of these changes in technology, but it should continue to do well as long as it keeps its focus on providing the best service to its customers.

Chunghwa Telecom adds 84k subscribers in 2007

Chunghwa Telecom, the incumbent carrier in Taiwan, ended 1H07 with 333 thousand IPTV subscribers, up 84 thousand from the 249 thousand subscribers that it had at the end of 2006. This was an increase of 113 percent in the preceding 12 months. It had 157 thousand IPTV subscribers at the end of 1H06.

Chunghwa received approval for its open IPTV platform, which is based on the Alcatel-Lucent OMP middleware software. It expects to roll the service out island-wide that should attract additional subscribers and more content.

Chunghwa is now on a nice curve with its MOD IPTV service. It has had consistent subscriber growth over the last 18 months. I expect that its progress will continue and that it should easily exceed 400 thousand IPTV subscribers by the end of the year.

Chunghwa to use Microsoft IPTV

Chunghwa Telecom, the incumbent carrier in Taiwan, has joined with Microsoft in a broad agreement that will include using Microsoft IPTV Edition software. No date was announced when Chunghwa will convert from its Alcatel software that it is currently using to the Microsoft software. The two companies plan for Microsoft's IPTV Edition software to become the core of Chunghwa's Digital Life strategy that will include TV services, on line gaming, and home offices services. These services will be delivered over fiber and DSL services.

Chunghwa also plans to use Microsoft software to provide CRM, ERP, and other business services to small and medium sized enterprises. Chunghwa will also use Microsoft software to help manage its networks.

Chunghwa has had quite a history of IPTV middleware packages. It started with Orca, which took it from zero to about 40 thousand subscribers. It then switched to Alcatel's middleware a bit before the Microsoft alliance was announced. Alcatel software has taken Chunghwa up to nearly 300 thousand IPTV subscribers. It will use Microsoft to take it to the next step.

Chunghwa IPTV Growth Continues

Chunghwa Telecom reached 285,111 IPTV subscribers at the end of March 2007, up 36,111 subscribers from the end of 2006. In the same quarter it added 20 thousand new ADS subscribers and 58 thousand new FTTB subscribers.

IPTV is continuing strong growth. Its 1Q07 was just a bit below the 37.5 thousand subscribers average per quarter that it achieved in 2006.

Chunghwa IPTV Grows 150%

Chunghwa Telecom's IPTV subscriber base grew from 99 thousand at the end of 2005 to 249 thousand at the end of 2006, an increase of 150 percent. The number of broadband subscribers in Taiwan grew to 4.4 million. The company added 197 thousand new ADSL subscribers and 169 thousand new FTTB subscribers during the year.

Chunghwa seems to have resolved the technical issues that held it back in 2004 and 2005 and is making good progress with its MOD IPTV service. Its subscriber growth should be as good or better than last year.