Chunghwa Telecom: to Weigh Options on Wimax Licensee Invest

TAIPEI -(Dow Jones)- Chunghwa Telecom will consider several options after Taiwan's telecommunications and broadcasting regulator blocked its NT$160 million investment in regional WiMAX licensee Global Mobile, a Chunghwa Telecom official said Friday.

The company might sell its 14.5% stake in Global Mobile to another party or ask for its investment back, said Harrison Kuo, deputy managing director of Chunghwa Telecom's investment department.

The National Communications Commission blocked the investment because Global Mobile didn't mention Chunghwa Telecom as a potential investor when it submitted its application to participate in the auction for regional WiMAX licenses, NCC spokesman Howard Shyr said earlier Friday.

Kuo said the company hadn't received a letter from the NCC on the matter yet. "We plan to discuss our options within a week," he added.

Chunghwa Telecom, Taiwan's largest telecommunications company by revenue, said in December it invested in Global Mobile after it failed to win a WiMAX license in an auction of the licenses in July.

-By Alex Pevzner, Dow Jones Newswires; 8862-2502-2557; alex.pevzner@dowjones.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

Posted to the site on 21st March 2008

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