Tatung InfoComm Co. Ltd. has launched commercial WiMAX services in Taiwan utilizing a WiMAX system deployed by the NEC Corp. These new commercial services were launched in Taiwan's southern prefecture of Pingdong and the eastern coastal prefecture of Hualian, and population coverage (outdoors) is above 80 percent. In addition to the mobile Internet access that these commercial services provide for general users, they are also expected to contribute to the support of network infrastructure for public services, including the medical and educational fields. In May 2010, similar services are also scheduled to launch in Gaoxiong prefecture, adjacent to Pingdong.

In recent years, NEC and Tatung have provided trial WiMAX services to public institutions as part of the M-Taiwan Project, which promotes the construction of an advanced information oriented society and the cultivation of domestic industry. NEC's trial system met each of the project's demands, including base station capacity, high speed transmission/handoff and others. As a result of these trials, and as a participating operator/vendor in the M-Taiwan Project, NEC was officially authorized to launch commercial services.

"Today's commercial services meet the requirements of the government's M-Taiwan Project and are a direct result of the cooperation between Tatung and NEC," said Don Lin, President of Tatung InfoComm Co. Ltd. "As a leader in the Taiwanese WiMAX market, we look forward to continuing our work with NEC to proactively expand our business domain."

"NEC is honored to have worked with Tatung towards the development of these commercial services," said Tadashi Ugajin, General Manager, International Sales Division, NEC. "The launch of these services is an important first step in providing WiMAX technologies throughout Taiwan. Looking forward, NEC and Tatung aim to drive the continued growth of WiMAX services and to reinforce our cooperative business."