Kaohsiung eSIM
In Kaohsiung you connect to Chunghwa or FarEasTone, whichever is performing better where you are standing. The typical speed across the country is 88 Mbps. Your data starts working the moment you land, before you reach the immigration hall.
- Networks
- Chunghwa and FarEasTone
- Typical speed in Taiwan
- 88 Mbps typical, 27 Mbps at busy times
- 5G
- yes, non standalone
- Throttle
- None on metered plans
- Tethering
- Allowed on every plan
How Taiwan compares across Asia
- Regional typical speed
- 42.95 Mbps
- Upstream networks
- 2, Chunghwa, FarEasTone
- 5G
- Yes, non standalone
- Next fastest nearby
- Hong Kong, 92 Mbps
- Next slowest nearby
- Macau, 84 Mbps
- Cities with their own page
- 3: Taipei, Kaohsiung, Taichung
Landing at Kaohsiung International Airport (KHH)
- Airport
- KHH / RCKH
- Wifi on arrival
- Free wifi in the terminalThe airport network is FREE Kaohsiung-Airport. You select it, a browser login page pops up, you accept the terms of use and you are online. Re-login is required every 30 minutes.
- SIM on arrival
- SIM counters or vending in the terminalA Chunghwa Telecom counter in the international terminal, open daily 08:00 to 20:00, sells mobile plans, SIM cards and phone cards.
Getting into Kaohsiung
- Kaohsiung Metro Red line from Kaohsiung International Airport station (KHH)
- Pingtung Bus routes 9117 and 9117A south to Kenting and Fangliao, tickets at the Pingtung Bus counter in the International Terminal arrival hall (KHH)
- Metered taxi from the curbside arrival exit on floor 1, with a NT$50 surcharge on international terminal pickups (KHH)
Underground and on the metro
Kaohsiung Metro runs 3 lines. It opened in 2008. The operator does not publish whether the tunnels carry a mobile signal, so we do not claim either way.
Worth knowing about Kaohsiung
- The Kaohsiung Metro Red line runs directly into the airport and continues to both the conventional Taiwan Railway and the high-speed rail stations, so no road transfer is needed for onward travel.
- Kaohsiung is Taiwan's second-busiest airport with 5.8 million passengers in 2024, so its international network is far smaller than Taoyuan's.
- Two of the three Kaohsiung Metro lines are rapid transit (Red and Orange); the third is the Circular light rail, which runs at street level.
- iTaiwan free wifi dropped registration on 1 July 2020. Local residents and foreign visitors alike can now use any hotspot, and the network name is iTaiwan.
- iTaiwan covers more than 5,000 hotspots in indoor government offices, tourist attractions and public transport stations that display the iTaiwan icon.
- iTaiwan hotspots keep the office hours of the government buildings hosting them. Only railway station and national highway rest area hotspots run 24 hours a day.
- iPASS cards are sold at Kaohsiung International Airport by the Golden Founders Travel Services Center on floor 1, and at Kaohsiung MRT station information counters.
- iPASS also sells at 7-Eleven, FamilyMart, Hi-Life and OK Mart. Most add value machines take multiples of NT$100, and a card holds at most NT$10,000.
- Taiwan's Tourism Administration says Kaohsiung Metro gates automatically deduct the fare from travel passes, electronic tickets, credit cards and transit codes, while a QR code single journey ticket becomes invalid immediately after being scanned.
- The operator lists Credit Card and Mobile Device NFC among its metro fare options, but names no card brands and refers holders to their own issuing bank for details.
- Red and Orange line trains leave their end stations between 6am and 11pm with an average headway of 4 to 8 minutes, changing to 20 minutes between 11pm and midnight.
- A Chunghwa Telecom prepaid card needs two documents from a foreign buyer, first a passport or valid residence permit, then an entry permit, visa, residence certificate, international student card or a home country official document.
- The Circular light rail commenced full operations on 1 January 2024 with 38 stations, and its cumulative ridership passed 10.31 million by October 2024.
- The Port of Kaohsiung is the largest international port in Taiwan, on the southwest coast where the Taiwan Strait meets the Bashi Channel, sheltered by a long narrow sandbar.
- Kaohsiung International Airport sits at Zhongshan 4th Road in Siaogang District inside Kaohsiung City, and its metro station is billed as a quick connection to the city centre and HSR Zuoying station.