Chunghwa Telecom

Chunghwa Telecom Co., Ltd. (Chinese: 中華電信; pinyin: Zhōnghuá Diànxìn; Wade–Giles: Chung¹-hua² Tien⁴-hsin⁴) (NYSE: CHT, TWSE: 2412) is the largest telecommunications company in Taiwan and the incumbent mobile, PSTN and broadband carrier there. It has its headquarters in Zhongzheng District, Taipei on the remains of the old Taipei Prison.

History

Chunghwa Telecom was founded as a company on June 15, 1996 as part of the Republic of China government's privatisation efforts. Prior to this, it operated as a business unit of the Directorate General of Telecommunications (zh:交通部電信總局) for over 100 years. The company’s common shares have been listed on the Taiwan Stock Exchange under the number “2412” since October 2000, and its ADSs have been listed on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol “CHT” since July 2003. In August 2005, Chunghwa Telecom became a privatised company, as the Taiwan government’s ownership was reduced to less than 50%.

The Directorate General of Telecommunications once exercised a monopoly on the telecommunications market in Taiwan. To make the telecommunications industry more competitive and improve service quality, the Ministry of Transportation and Communications began to promote "telecommunications liberalisation" policy from the late 1980s, in which the telecom industry will gradually be opened to private industry operations. The liberalisation of telecommunications as well as the management and operation of telecommunications business as mentioned in the plan aimed to achieve "separation between government and enterprises".