TAIPEI, Taiwan, May 7 /Xinhua-PRNewswire-FirstCall/ --
Chunghwa Telecom Co., Ltd. (TAIEX: 2412; NYSE: CHT) ("CHT" or "the Company") today announced that it has established a joint venture with Viettel Corporation ("Viettel") to provide Internet Data Center ("IDC") services in Vietnam. This venture, which is expected to begin operations in the third quarter of 2008, marks Chunghwa Telecom's first investment project outside of Taiwan.
The initial investment is US$30 million, of which 70% will be provided by Viettel and 30% will be provided by Chunghwa Telecom. Chunghwa Telecom will hold two out of a total of five board seats and is responsible for appointing the president of the joint venture and designating technical experts; Viettel will be in charge of marketing initiatives and administrative management.
Since opening a representative office in Vietnam in 2006, Chunghwa Telecom has made significant progress towards initiating international operations there through its cooperation with Viettel. Tan Ho Chen, Chairman of Chunghwa Telecom, commented, "This joint venture in Vietnam is the first step in executing our Company's growth strategy outside of Taiwan. We are excited to join with Viettel Corporation, a solid partner in Vietnam's telecommunications industry, to develop IDC services. We look forward to growing our customer base and service capabilities in Vietnam."
Chunghwa Telecom initially will cooperate with Viettel to offer Taiwan-based companies and customers IDC services in Vietnam, where demand for these services is expected to increase dramatically, in line with Internet growth. In Taiwan, Chunghwa Telecom provides not only basic IDC services, but also total solutions for network monitoring, security, load-balancing, and disaster recovery. The Company expects that the joint venture will expand to also provide both basic and total solution IDC services for Taiwanese corporate customers, government authorities and private companies in Vietnam.
Viettel Corporation is an integrated telecom service provider, providing services including fixed line, mobile and data communication networks. As one of the major mobile phone companies in Vietnam, Viettel has experienced rapid mobile revenue growth over the past few years.
About Chunghwa Telecom
Chunghwa Telecom is the leading telecom service provider in Taiwan. Chunghwa Telecom provides fixed line services, mobile services and Internet and data services to residential and business customers in Taiwan.
For inquiries:
Fu-fu Shen
Investor Relations
Chunghwa Telecom
Tel: +886-2-2344-5488
Email: chtir@cht.com.tw
