The Ministry of Economic Affair is offering subsidies to encourage 2G subscribers to shift to 4G services, and telecoms are all adding their own incentives to this government subsidy plan. Not only do telecoms provide low monthly cellphone rates, they also give out multiple discount options for purchasing 4G smartphones amid an improved user experience with cloud solutions. On average, around 1,000 applications are received per day, with a total of over 20,000 applications since November 7th, and the number is still growing.
To sum up the most economical options from the carriers: CHT has launched a monthly NT$88 cellphone rate after the government subsidy; before 2016, Taiwan Mobile offers a limited discount on the cellphone rate that does not even cost consumers any money; FarEasTone gives out a discount with a value of NT$6,000 on your cellphone bill for a two–year contract. As for Asia Pacific Telecom, they have designed a rate that fits 2G users’ calling habits that only costs NT$198 per month; they also give out free calls within the network, as well as 500MB of Internet data for free. T-star also offers consumers the cheapest price of NT$199 on its monthly cellphone rate along with 1GB Internet data.
It is estimated that this government project will subsidize around 400,000 4G smartphones in the market for applicants. Hence, the government encourages those 2G users to apply before February 29th, 2016. The government will subsidize 2G subscribers who are shifting to 4G services with operators’ special offers of up to NT$2,000 per individual.
The Ministry of Economic Affairs calls on consumers to seize the opportunity and apply while the complimentary discounts are available. The government has also set up an informative website for consumers to check telecoms’ discount options: http://www.2gto4g.org.tw
If consumers have any questions, the IDB service line (02-25362680) is now available.