TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — The National Communications Commission (NCC) on Wednesday (Jan. 18) approved the mergers of four of Taiwan's major telecom companies.

That day, the NCC announced that it approved the mergers of Taiwan Mobile (台灣大哥大) and Taiwan Star Telecom (台灣之星) as well as Far EasTone (遠傳電信) and Asia Pacific Telecom (亞太電信). However, because the newly formed entities will exceed the amount of bandwidth allowed for one company to possess, they are required to give the extra bandwidth back to the NCC.

The two new corporations are required to correct the problem of extra bandwidth by returning the bandwidth free of charge, exchanging it, or trading it before the end of June 2024. The two mergers shocked the telecom industry as Taiwan Mobile is the country's second-largest telecom, trailing only Chunghwa Telecom, while Far EasTone is the third largest.

On Dec. 30, 2021, Taiwan mobile announced that it would merge with its smaller rival Taiwan Star through a stock-for-stock merger. On Feb. 25, 2022, Far EasTone announced it had completed the signing of a merger agreement with Asia Pacific via share swap deal.

In September 2022, the NCC held hearings on the two mergers and, after many months of review, approved the merger applications. The two mergers must also be approved by the Fair Trade Commission before they can be finalized.

However, there are rumors that the Taiwan Mobile-Taiwan Star merger may be renegotiated, bringing uncertainty to the "New Three Kingdoms Era" in Taiwan's telecommunications industry.