Taiwan’s Far EasTone Telecommunications added almost 550,000 4G connections in Q1, or 40 per cent of the country’s LTE net additions during the quarter, giving it a 30 per cent 4G market share (according to GSMA Intelligence data).

Market leader Chunghwa Telecom’s 4G share fell from 38 per cent in Q4 to 36.75 per cent in the most recent quarter. Chunghwa had 35 per cent of the 4G additions in Q1, or 473,000 connections.

Taiwan Mobile added 283,000, seeing its share of the 4G market drop from 31 per cent in Q4 to 28 per cent last quarter.

A fifth of Far EasTone’s total connections are now 4G, compared to 19 per cent for Taiwan Mobile and 16.6 per cent for Chunghwa, which still has the most 4G connections (1.8 million). Far EasTone ended the quarter with 1.5 million and Taiwan Mobile with 1.4 million.

Far EasTone said in March it aims to have three million 4G users by the end of the year. Taiwan Mobile also plans to have three million by year-end.

Meanwhile this week Far EasTone extended its equipment supply contract with Ericsson, which will cover 4G RAN, evolved packet core, VoLTE, WiFi calling and professional services. The deal sees Ericsson become Far EasTone’s sole 4G supplier.

The country’s three largest mobile operators started offering 4G services last May and June.

In terms of total customer base, Chunghwa is Taiwan’s largest operator with a 33.5 per cent total market share (10.9 million connections).Taiwan Mobile and Far EasTone are neck-and-neck, each claiming a 23 per cent share of mobile connections.