Taiwan's Chunghwa Telecom will work with Alcatel-Lucent on the island's first network of its kind, the network builder said in a statement on Thursday.

The network will let Chunghwa Telecom offer "triple-play" services, the statement said. That term usually refers to television, high-speed Internet and a basic telephone service sent over one broadband connection. Passive optical networks also can ease bandwidth bottlenecks.

Chunghwa Telecom, which competes viciously with other local fixed-line providers, would use the network to improve service for homes and businesses on the island of about 23 million people.

The carrier declined to estimate a cost for the gigabit passive optical network or give technical details.

In 2004, Chunghwa Telecom signed a memorandum of understanding with Intel to develop multimedia applications and services for home users.