Chunghwa Telecom starts selling Google AI subscriptions

On November 4, Chunghwa Telecom said it will start offering Google AI subscriptions, integrating Gemini into its mobile and broadband plans and selling an annual option separately. General Manager Lin Rong-Ci aims for 200,000 paying Google AI users within a year.

Under the plans, customers on "Fantastic 5G" rate plans get a free first month or first year of Google AI Plus, and designated broadband plans get a free six-month trial. Standalone annual subscriptions for Google AI Plus (2TB) and Google AI Pro (5TB) are available at discounts starting at 20 percent off the regular price.

Hu Xue-Hai, who leads Chunghwa Telecom's Personal and Home Business Group, said a "Google Pixel Experience Zone" will open at the Taipei Dongmen store by the end of the year. Next year, the company will consider adding outlets in the six major municipalities and Hsinchu, starting with two to four locations. At present, 140 Taiwanese stores have Pixel experience sections, and over 100 staff members are Google AI certified, with plans to train more.

Lin Rong-Ci said Chunghwa Telecom has resilient network infrastructure covering "sea, land, sky and space" and aims to provide a full AI experience across connectivity, devices, and apps. "Only by putting AI applications into real-world scenarios such as work, learning and creation can AI services evolve from a technology tool into a life tool," he said. Google Taiwan general manager Lin Ya-Fang said Gemini has been integrated into Gmail, Google Drive and Pixel phones, and that Taiwan is Google's largest hardware R&D base outside the US.

Since 2010, the two companies have partnered on Google Play carrier billing, which now has over 1 million users. They extended the collaboration to Hami Video on Google TV in 2021, Google One in 2022, and later Pixel phones and YouTube Premium. According to BigGo Finance, Google One has more than 200,000 subscribers. Hu Xue-Hai noted that current Google One subscribers overlap with expected Google AI users, so the two counts cannot be combined.

Google had announced the Pixel 11 launch event for August 12 in New York City, with an invite saying, "Come celebrate with us in NYC on August 12. It's the night the next generation of Pixel arrives".

By November 3, the Pixel 11 Pro was on sale for $799.00, a 27 percent discount from its usual $1,099.00 price, according to Consequence. The unlocked phone has a 6.3-inch Super Actua display, Google's Gemini AI assistant, a camera with 120x zoom and Magic Capture, battery life of up to 30 hours, IP68 protection against water and dust, and 256GB of storage. Google also listed the Pixel 11 Pro XL at $940, a 27 percent discount, and the Pixel 11 at $699, a 22 percent discount.