Taiwan’s 5G Availability has climbed to 69.3 percent in the first half of 2025, up from 62.1 percent a year earlier, according to Speedtest Intelligence. The data from Ookla report highlights steady progress for Taiwanese operators, though the market still lags behind regional leaders such as Hong Kong (83.9 percent) and South Korea (77.1 percent).
For customers, this translates to more consistent 5G access, especially in dense urban areas where mid-band spectrum provides both speed and coverage. The three main operators — FarEasTone, Chunghwa Telecom, and Taiwan Mobile — have accelerated deployments since acquiring C-band spectrum in the 2020 auction. Market consolidation has also played a role, with mergers creating larger spectrum blocks that improve network efficiency and user experience.
FarEasTone leads the market with 72.4 percent 5G Availability, a 6.9 percentage point improvement from 65.5 percent in 2024. Chunghwa Telecom follows at 69.8 percent, up 5.9 points, while Taiwan Mobile saw the fastest year-over-year gain, climbing 8.5 points to reach 66.5 percent. Despite being the last to merge, Taiwan Mobile’s acquisition of Taiwan Star allowed it to combine spectrum resources, enhancing both coverage and reliability.
C-band spectrum accounts for 85.5 percent of all 5G usage across Taiwan, ensuring faster data speeds for most subscribers. FarEasTone and Chunghwa rely almost exclusively on this band, while Taiwan Mobile complements it with low-band frequencies to extend coverage, particularly beneficial for suburban and rural users.
While Taiwan’s progress is notable, its customers experience lower 5G availability compared to South Korea and Hong Kong, which benefited from earlier launches and aggressive deployment. However, Taiwan remains ahead of Singapore (67.9 percent) and India (60.5 percent), signaling strong momentum in improving the 5G experience for consumers.
Chunghwa Telecom led Taiwan’s 5G performance in the first half of 2025, recording the highest median download speed of 344.25 Mbps—31.6 percent faster than FarEasTone and 54.1 percent faster than Taiwan Mobile. Chunghwa also achieved the best upload speed at 34.52 Mbps and the lowest latency at 23 ms, highlighting a strong overall user experience.
In contrast, FarEasTone, despite leading in 5G Availability, posted lower speeds of 261.17 Mbps for downloads and 28.92 Mbps for uploads. Taiwan Mobile lagged both competitors, with the lowest performance across metrics. The results show that broader 5G coverage does not necessarily equate to faster network speeds.
In the first half of 2025, only 46.7 percent of devices taking a Speedtest in Taiwan were 5G-capable and actively connected to a 5G network, while 40.1 percent were 5G-capable but not yet on 5G, and 13.2 percent were non-5G devices. This highlights a significant opportunity for operators to convert capable devices into active 5G users.
Chunghwa Telecom leads in adoption, with 88.3 percent of its users owning 5G-capable devices and 50.6 percent conducting tests on 5G, along with the lowest share of non-5G devices at 11.1 percent. FarEasTone and Taiwan Mobile trail in conversion, with around 45 percent of users actively on 5G and higher proportions of non-5G devices. Despite growing device availability, most 5G-capable users still spend the majority of their time on 4G networks, underscoring both coverage limitations and adoption challenges.
Chunghwa Telecom leads in 5G usage, with 5G-capable devices spending 32.4 percent of their time on the 5G network, compared to 27.8 percent for FarEasTone and 27.7 percent for Taiwan Mobile. Across all operators, users still spend the majority of their time on 4G, with Chunghwa at 66.2 percent and both FarEasTone and Taiwan Mobile exceeding 70 percent.
Spectrum strategies, such as Dynamic Spectrum Sharing (DSS), and network densification—including more indoor coverage and small cells—can help increase the time users spend on 5G, improving the overall return on network investments and enhancing customer experience.
Baburajan Kizhakedath