TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — The board of Taiwan Mobile Co. on Thursday (Dec. 30) passed a resolution to merge with Taiwan Star Telecom Co., making it the nation's second-largest telecommunication company, with 9.76 million customers, Yahoo reported.

Taiwan Mobile said it hoped the National Communications Commission and Fair Trade Commission would approve the merger soon.

After the merger, the combined 9.76 million customers will exceed Far EasTone Telecom (FET) and Asia Pacific Telecom, which have a combined 9.12 million customers. Chunghwa Telecom has a client base of 10.65 million customers, the report said.

Taiwan Mobile President Jamie Lin (林之晨) said that after the merger, his company will honor all Taiwan Star contracts and put in place a plan for its workers.