Vodafone – the world’s largest mobile operator by revenue – has made a push into Taiwan, signing up the country’s largest operator, Chunghwa Telecom, to its ‘Partner Markets’ initiative. The deal sees Chunghwa gain exclusive access to a selection of products, services and devices from Vodafone in Taiwan, whilst the deal adds to Vodafone’s roaming footprint in Asia-Pacific. Vodafone’s Partner Market agreements have been set up by the global operator in countries where it does not hold an equity stake. Vodafone has such agreements in 42 other countries worldwide. According to Wireless Intelligence, Vodafone also holds equity stakes in another 36 mobile operations.

Taiwan is a highly competitive mobile market with a penetration rate of approximately 105 percent. The world’s largest operator by subscribers, China Mobile, is attempting to buy a 12 percent stake in the country’s third-largest operator, Far EasTone, whilst number two player Taiwan Mobile is believed to have attracted interest from China Unicom and China Telecom.