Chunghwa Telecom (CHT), Taiwan Mobile (TWM) and Far EasTone Telecommunications (FET), the three largest mobile telecom carriers in Taiwan, plan to offer femtocell services in the first half of 2011, the second half of 2011 and sometime in 2011 respectively, according to the companies.

CHT has proposed an operating plan to the National Communications Commission for approval, with free femtocell services to be offered for business users initially on a trial basis, the company indicated. The time to offer femtocell services for home users will depend on the cost of femtocells, CHT pointed out. A home-use femtocell would allow four users to access the Internet simultaneously, while a business-use model can accommodate as many as 16 concurrent office users, CHT indicated.

Procurement prices for femtocells are on the decline, and are expected to fall to below US$100 in 2011, FET pointed out.