TAIPEI (WiMAX Day). The National Communications Commission (NCC) of Taiwan announced today that eight companies have qualified to bid for WiMAX spectrum licenses. The NCC said the licenses are to be auctioned on July 27th, and results of the auction will be announced on August 3.

The NCC received 13 applications for the licenses, and NCC Vice Chairman Howard S.H. Shyr said the qualified bidders include: GSM operator Far EasTone Telecommunications, Chunghwa Telecom, First International Telecom, electronics manufacturer Tatung, Vastar Cable TV System, Taiwan Digital Communications, a subsidiary of Taiwan Mobile, and Global On, the joint venture between telecom equipment manufacturer Tecom and mobile operator VIBO Telecom.

Those applicants that were not approved by the NCC include: Chunghwa Wideband Best Network Co, Asia Pacific Broadband Telecom Co, Ubiquitous Mobile Multimedia, Pan Overseas Corp. and Won Won Infocomm Co, said Vice Chariman Shyr.

NCC will offer a total of six licenses at auction. The licenses will be split between the North and South of Taiwan, thus three licenses for the North and three for the South. Of the eight qualifying bidders, seven are eligible to bid for licenses in the North, and six are eligible to bid for licenses in the South.

The auction for WiMAX licenses in Taiwan has been in the spotlight for several months. While Taiwan might be considered a small market for WiMAX in terms of subscribers, the market is exuberant over the prospect of turning Taiwan into a fully WiMAX-ed country.

One of the main proponents of WiMAX in Taiwan has been the government-sponsored M-Taiwan initiative. By 2010 this initiative will invest up to $1 billion in new technologies such as WiMAX.

However the biggest support for WiMAX in Taiwan comes from local equipment manufacturers that intend to grab a large portion of the market. Recent statistics from the Institute for Information Industry predict that in the next two years, production of WiMAX equipment from Taiwan will reach US$ 15 billion.

The Institute also predict that by 2015, Taiwan manufacturers could wrangle 80% of the market for WiMAX CPE and OEM products.