Chunghwa Telecom : and Eutelsat OneWeb Sign an Exclusive Agency Contract to Deliver Low Earth Orbit (LEO) Services Across Taiwan

Chunghwa Telecom signed an exclusive agency contract for low-orbit satellite service in Taiwan with Eutelsat OneWeb, a subsidiary of the European Communication Satellite Group (Eutelsat Group) in London on November 14th. Alex Chien, Executive Vice President of Chunghwa Telecom, led a delegation to visit the low-orbit satellite facilities at the Eutelsat OneWeb headquarters in London. Both parties engaged in depth discussions regarding future collaborations. Executive Vice President Alex Chien stated that Eutelsat OneWeb has launched over 600 low-orbit satellites, operating in 12 orbital planes at a distance of 1,200 kilometers from the Earth's surface. The satellite signals are expected to cover the entire Taiwan by 2024. This extensive collaboration between Chunghwa Telecom and Eutelsat OneWeb is poised to lead Taiwan into a new era of low-orbit satellite applications.

The OneWeb Low Earth Orbit (LEO) satellite network is composed of satellites in low Earth orbit, which are closer to the Earth's surface compared to traditional geostationary satellites (GEO). The low orbit design enables OneWeb to provide high-speed, low-latency communication services, and the high number of LEO satellites enhances the reliability of satellite communication services. After securing exclusive agency rights in Taiwan, Chunghwa Telecom will cooperate with the Ministry of Digital Affair's project, "Resilience Verification Plan for New and Emerging Technologies for Communication Networks in Crisis or War" to actively deploy 700 domestic and 3 international LEO satellite terminal equipment hotspots. Additionally, Chunghwa Telecom will establish satellite backhaul links to critical communication base stations in remote areas, outlying islands, and key mobile communication nodes, Ensuring the continuity of essential communication services during emergencies, supporting the normal operation of government command and control systems, and enhancing the resilience of the national communication network.

Chunghwa Telecom has synchronized our plans to utilize low Earth orbit satellites to enhance the resilience of our internal network. This integration involves multiple network redundancies, including satellite communication, fixed networks, mobile networks, submarine cables, microwave communication, and more. The aim is to provide reliable digital resilience solutions for government, businesses, and individuals. Furthermore, Chunghwa Telecom will continue to actively collaborate with both international and domestic industry partners, participating in key satellite developments. In the future, Chunghwa Telecom plans to establish a Low Earth Orbit Satellite Service Terminal Testing Center in Taiwan, in collaboration with government satellite research organizations, academic institutions, and satellite industry vendors. This initiative will involve the integration of domestic and international satellite service resources to collectively promote the development of the domestic satellite industry.