Taiwan’s largest mobile operator, Chunghwa Telecom, is considering dropping unlimited 4G data plans next year, as rising data consumption and pressure from rivals builds the case to move to tiered plans.

Chunghwa president Shih Mu-piao said many two-year contracts expire in May and it has already introduced a number of tiered pricing plans, so the middle of the year would be a good time to make the move, the Taipei Times reported.

Taiwan Mobile and Far EasTone Telecommunications have both urged the number one player to take the lead in moving away from flat rates.

Chunghwa Telecom, which has a 33.5 per cent overall market share, had 3.1 million 4G connections at the end of Q3 and a 38 per cent 4G market share, according to GSMA Intelligence. It added 1.8 million 4G connections since the beginning of the year.

Taiwan Mobile and Far EasTone, each with a 23 per cent market share, both have about 2.1 million 4G connections.

After aggressively pushing 4G since receiving licences in May 2014, each has expanded its 4G user base to 28-29 per cent of total connections.

Q3 results
All three companies released their Q3 financial results over the past two days.

Chunghwa’s Q3 net income attributable to stockholders increased 21.3 per cent to TWD11.8 billion ($362 million) from a year ago. Its revenue increased 0.1 per cent to TWD56.18 billion, while mobile service revenue was up 3.1 per cent to TWD27.29 billion.

The recent launch of the iPhone 6s, Chunghwa chairman and CEO Rick Tsai said, supports its top-line growth and mobile subscriber expansion, but also increases related expenses.

Q3 capex fell 34.6 per cent to TWD5.15 billion, and Tsai said capex next year would be lower than this year.

Its subscriber base rose 1.8 per cent to 11.25 million over the past 12 months.

Taiwan Mobile’s net income for Q3 rose 11 per cent to TWD$4.16 billion, despite a 1 per cent drop in overall revenue to TWD27.57 billion. Mobile service revenue was up 1 per cent to TWD16.45 billion, with postpaid turnover up 3 per cent during the quarter from a year ago.

The company said the growth in 4G subscribers helped boost postpaid ARPU by 3 per cent during the quarter to TWD870.

Its Q3 capex was down 17 per cent to TWD2.96 billion from a year ago.

Far EasTone reported a 13 per cent increase in its net income in Q3 to TWD3.2 billion. Overall revenue fell 1 per cent to TWD22.98 billion, while mobile service revenue was up 1 per cent to TWD16.1 billion.

Postpaid ARPU grew 2.8 per cent to TWD896 from a year ago. Its subscriber base was almost flat over the past year at 7.4 million.