In general, there are no infrastructural limitations to internet access in Taiwan and the country boasts high rates of internet access. DataReportal’s Digital 2024 report placed Taiwan’s internet penetration rate at 90.7 percent and counted 21.71 million internet users.1 The Taiwan Network Information Center (TWNIC) reported a penetration rate of 84.67 percent for people over the age of 18 in 2023.2
Users can get online via a variety of connection standards: Fixed-line broadband options include fiber-optic and digital subscriber line (DSL) connections, while mobile users rely on 4G and 5G technology. Free public Wi-Fi services are also available, with nearly 10,000 free hotspots across the country.3 According to the National Communications Commission (NCC), 6.76 million people, including more than 4.25 million fiber-optic users, were subscribed to fixed-line broadband networks in December 2023, and there were more than 30 million subscribers to mobile networks.4 According to the TWNIC’s report, the penetration rate for fixed-line broadband users was 65.41 percent and the penetration rate for mobile broadband users was 81.76 percent.5
In February 2023, the two submarine cables connecting Taiwan and the Matsu Islands, a Taiwan-governed archipelago off the coast of the mainland, were severed by Chinese civilian vessels.6 The approximately 14,000 residents of the Matsu Islands lost high-speed internet until late March, when one of the cables was repaired, though Chunghwa Telecom—Taiwan’s largest telecommunications company—deployed low-bandwidth internet services in the interim.7 Though an NCC investigation reportedly found no direct evidence that the incidents were deliberate, the cable cuts were widely understood as a national security risk.8 More minor cable cuts are common. According to one tally, illegal sand-pumping vessels have cut the Taiwan-Matsu cables almost 30 times over the past six years.9
Several efforts to strengthen the resilience of Taiwanese internet infrastructure are underway. In November 2023, Chunghwa Telecom commissioned a new submarine cable for outlying islands.10 The construction of a satellite internet network operated by the Taiwanese government and private sector remained under development during the coverage period.11
The government is dedicated to upgrading mobile services to 5G.12 Telecommunications companies stopped offering 3G contracts in 2018.13 Major service providers, such as Chunghwa Telecom, Taiwan Mobile, and FET, began providing 5G service in major cities and several other areas in 2020.14 The number of 5G service users reached about 8.39 million in December 2023, according to the NCC, and 5G service users accounted for 26.77 percent of all users of mobile internet, according to the TWNIC.15
Taiwanese internet users enjoy fast internet speeds. In May 2024, Ookla’s Speedtest Global Index reported Taiwan’s median mobile download and upload speeds as 81.93 megabits per second (Mbps) and 14.91 Mbps, respectively. Fixed-line broadband download and upload speeds were reported at a median 190.01 Mbps and 94.20 Mbps.16
- 1Simon Kemp, “Digital 2024: Taiwan,” DataReportal, February 23, 2024,https://datareportal.com/reports/digital-2024-taiwan
- 2Taiwan Network Information Center, “2023 台灣網路報告[2023 Taiwan Internet Report]”, August 2023, page 20, https://report.twnic.tw/2023/assets/download/TWNIC_TaiwanInternetReport….
- 3Taiwan Network Information Center, “2020台灣網路報告 [2020 Taiwan Internet Report],” 2020, https://report.twnic.tw/2020/en/report_en.pdf. Chinese version available here: https://report.twnic.tw/2020/assets/download/TWNIC_TaiwanInternetReport…., “Overview of Overall Internet Usage,” 2022, https://report.twnic.tw/2022/en/TrendAnalysis_internetUsage.html; iTaiwan Wifi, “iTaiwan無線上網服務簡介 [Introduction to iTaiwan Wireless Internet Service,]” Accessed February 15, 2024, https://itaiwan.gov.tw/faq_service.php.
- 4National Communications Commission, “寬頻上網帳號數(112年)[2023 Number of Fixed-line Broadband Accounts],”December 2023, https://www.ncc.gov.tw/chinese/news_detail.aspx?site_content_sn=2035&ca….
- 5Taiwan Network Information Center, “2023 台灣網路報告[2023 Taiwan Internet Report]”, August 2023, https://report.twnic.tw/2023/.
- 6Ming-Yen Chiang, Ssu-Yun Su and Lin Ko, “NCC confirms undersea cables linking Taiwan, Matsu cut by vessels” Focus Taiwan, February 16, 2023, https://focustaiwan.tw/society/202302160022
- 7Wen Lii, “After Chinese Vessels Cut Matsu Internet Cables, Taiwan Seeks to Improve Its Communications Resilience,” The Diplomat, April 15, 2023, https://thediplomat.com/2023/04/after-chinese-vessels-cut-matsu-interne….
- 8Jie-Yu Wu, “台馬海底電纜發生中斷不只一次 NCC揭破壞元凶 [The Taiwan-Matsu submarine cable was interrupted more than once, NCC revealed the culprit of the sabotage],” February 17, 2023, https://www.upmedia.mg/news_info.php?Type=24&SerialNo=166156; Huizhong Wu and Johnson Lai, “Taiwan suspects Chinese ships cut islands’ internet cables,” Associated Press, April 18, 2023, https://apnews.com/article/matsu-taiwan-internet-cables-cut-china-65f10…; Shelley Shan, “Lienchiang Internet to be restored by end of April,” Taipei Times, February 17, 2023, https://www.taipeitimes.com/News/taiwan/archives/2023/02/17/2003794526..
- 9Chi-Chiang Yang and Yi-An Lee, “海峽下的風暴：中國盜砂船入侵下快速消失的台灣海砂、魚群，與被毀的電纜[The storm under the strait: Taiwan’s rapidly disappearing sea sand, fish schools, and destroyed cables with invasion of Chinese sand pumping vessels]”, The Reporters, April 27, 2023, https://www.twreporter.org/topics/china-dredging
- 10Wu Shuping, “自己的海纜自己拉 中華電信500公里光纖海纜有「台灣隊」,” Yahoo!, December 7, 2023, https://tw.news.yahoo.com/%E8%87%AA%E5%B7%B1%E7%9A%84%E6%B5%B7%E7%BA%9C….
- 11Meaghan Tobin and John Liu, “Why Taiwan Is Building a Satellite Network Without Elon Musk,” New York Times, March 14, 2024, https://www.nytimes.com/2024/03/14/business/taiwan-starlink-satellite.h….
- 12National Communications Commission, “即時新聞澄清 [Instant News Clarification,]” January 07, 2021, https://www.ncc.gov.tw/chinese/news_detail.aspx?site_content_sn=3562&ca….; Shelley Shan, “ Telecoms can drop 3G by 2024, must protect user rights,” Taipei Times, September 11, 2020, https://www.taipeitimes.com/News/taiwan/archives/2020/09/11/2003743213 https://www.ncc.gov.tw/chinese/files/23011/5558_230118_1.pdf
- 13National Communications Commission, “新聞稿 [Press Release,]” December 05, 2018, https://www.ncc.gov.tw/chinese/news_detail.aspx?site_content_sn=8&is_hi….
- 14Chunghwa Telecom, “5G,” Accessed June 24, 2021, https://www.cht.com.tw/home/campaign/5g/index.html, see QA Juan Pedro Tomás, “Taiwan Mobile’s 5G coverage reaches half of Taiwan’s population,” RCR Wireless News, April 29, 2021, https://www.rcrwireless.com/20210429/5g/taiwan-mobile-5g-coverage-reach…. Ericsson.com, “Far EasTone and Ericsson deliver the fastest 5G experience in Taiwan,” accessed June 24, 2021, https://www.ericsson.com/en/cases/2021/solid-partnership-far-eastone. Chunghwa Telecom, “舞動精采 共創未來,”Dancing Splendidly to create a better future, accessed July 20, 2021, https://www.cht.com.tw/home/campaign/5g/index.html
- 15National Communications Commission, “寬頻上網帳號數(112年)[2023 Number of Fixed-line Broadband Accounts],” December 2023, page 303 https://www.ncc.gov.tw/chinese/news_detail.aspx?site_content_sn=2035&ca…; Taiwan Network Information Center, “2023 台灣網路報告[2023 Taiwan Internet Report]”, August 2023, https://report.twnic.tw/2023.
- 16Taiwan’s Mobile and Fixed Broadband Internet Speeds, Speedtest, accessed August 12, 2024, https://www.speedtest.net/global-index/taiwan#mobile