Taiwan-based mobile telecom carrier Far EasTone Telecommunications (FET) has decided to invest up to NT$1 billion (US$32 million) to establish a subsidiary in China.

FET's board of directors also decided to distribute a dividend per share of NT$2.8 in cash for 2009 and issue 444.341 million new shares at a tentative price of NT$40 per share for private placement, the company said.

Industry sources said the target of private placement is China-based China Mobile Communications, but the investment is subject to approval by the Taiwan government.

The China subsidiary will be set up through FET's Cayman Islands-based subsidiary Far EasTone Holding, the company said.

FET said it had 6.237 million subscribers of mobile communication service, including 3.93 million 3G users and 225,000 users of 3.5G/HSPA broadband data communication service.