Chunghwa Telecom (CHT) has indirectly invested US$900,000 in Darling Digital Technology, the operator of Taiwan on-line music platform ezPeer+, for an 11.25% stake, according to CHT.

Starting operations in July of this year, ezPeer+ provides PC-based P2P (peer to peer) on-line music transfers as well as DRM (digital rights management)-compliant music for download onto portable multimedia devices such as MP3 players, Darling indicated, adding that P2P services cost NT$149 a month while the download service costs NT$249 a month. The platform currently has about 500,000 members, Darling noted.

CHT’s indirect investment through a subsidiary in ezPeer+ was motivated by the boost from on-line music services to its ADSL (HiNet) and 3G/3.5G business operations, according to industry sources. CHT’s HiNet subscriber accounts have been integrated with ezPeer+ member accounts, enabling HiNet subscribers to directly use ezPeer+ services, Darling indicated. The integration will be extended to CHT 3G subscribers, Darling added.

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