Last Updated: 201601

It’s no doubt that we’re more attached to our mobiles devices and internet more than we’ve ever been in the past. So when you’re traveling in Taiwan, how do you connect to the world? We’ve put together a comparison between the five major carriers’ plans for you to find something that fits your needs!

How many are there?

• Chunghwa Telecom – Formerly the Directorate of General Telecommunications, Chunghwa is also currently the biggest private carrier. Provide 2G/3G(WCDMA)/4G service. It’s considered the carrier with the best signals, covering mountains and more remote areas.
• Taiwan Mobile  - The market share is only second to Chunghwa, providing 2G/3G(WCDMA)/4G service.
• FarEasTone -  The third in place in terms of market share, providing 2G/3G(WCDMA)/4G service.
• Taiwan Star Telecom – The fourth in place in terms of market share, providing 2G/3G(WCDMA)/4G service.
• Asia Pacific Telecom – The fifth in place in terms of market share, providing 3G(CDMA2000/WCDMA)/4G service. A special note in that its 3G service has a different dimensions than the other carriers, if you’re using a non-compatible phone, then it would go roaming for free to Taiwan Mobile’s network.

How Many Gigabytes Should I Purchase/Use?
This entirely depends on your usage and habits. We would suggest you consider your usual data usage in your country and down grade a few gigabytes because of the amount of Wi-Fi in Taiwan. Taipei City alone offers free Wi-Fi everywhere within the city limit. For details on these Wi-Fi spots and other information please refer to It's Free, Free, and Free! Taiwan's WiFi Guide, an article coming soon.

How’s the Connection Quality?
Taiwan has a very high population density, pretty much where you see humans there’s definitely 3G signals. Most metro areas have 4G signals completely covered, so your YouTube video or FaceTime to your family is covered. In some remote areas with weak signals, Chunghwa would also provide 2G phone service.

What Do I Need to Buy a Pre-Paid Number?
Visitors used to be able to buy the numbers at chained convenience store, which was fairly convenient. Due to the modifications of the laws however, now Pre-Paid cards can only be bought in the carrier store at the airport before you enter this country or at each carrier’s dedicated store. Just have your passport ready and they’ll guide you through the process.

Days Plan: Unlimited Data within Selected Days
Days plan is providing unlimited data within the date range of the plan. Taiwan’s current Day plans only provide 3G network, for a faster speed we suggest you choose the 4G plans charged by data used。

• Currencies above are in (TWD)
• The days are counted in 24 hour period for example if you activate the number at 15:00 today then it would expire at 14:59:59 tomorrow.
• 1 Taiwan Star Telecom offers selected free calling minutes

Data Usage Plan
If you’re staying for a longer period of time, or need a faster speed for whatever you’re doing with the internet, we recommend you use the Data Usage Plan. These plans provide both 3G and 4G plans, but with the same data amount 3G would be significantly more expensive than 4G plans. For most phones today, even if they don’t support 4G networks, the phones will automatically search for its 3G network after the SIM card is plugged in, therefore we recommend you consider the 4G plans for now.
format: Carrier/TWD Prices/Number Expiration Date

(translated by Nasha)

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