HK PRESS: Hutchison Global Crossing Risks Losing HK$50M
Updated: Tuesday, June 26, 2001 08:57 PM ET
HONG KONG (Dow Jones)--Hutchison Global Crossing's fixed-line fiber-optic network project for the government is more than six months behind schedule, a delay that may cost the company HK$50 million, the Hong Kong iMail reports.
The company wasn't immediately available to comment early Wednesday.
Hutchison Global Crossing, Hong Kong's second largest telecommunications company, is a joint venture between billionaire Li Ka-shing's Hutchison Whampoa (H.HUW, news, msgs) and Asia Global Crossing (AGCX, news, msgs). It received the contract from the government to build the fixed-line network in 1999.
It is blaming the delay on Pacific Century CyberWorks (PCW, news, msgs), a company run by Li's son Richard Li, the iMail reports.
"Our network was in place long ago," said Charles Yip, general manager of the venture, according to the paper. "We can't get into PCCW's switches because there isn't enough space for our equipment."
Hutchison Global Crossing might lose a HK$50 million bond if it doesn't reach a government-set target to connect 22 exchanges by the end of 2002, the paper said.
So far, it has connected only 13 and has said it won't meet its 2000 target of being hooked up to 16 PCCW exchanges for at least another three months, the paper said.
Hutchison has invested more than HK$4 billion in the fiber-optic cable in the past 30 months but has been slow to connect to phone exchanges owned by rival PCCW, the city's dominant phone company, the paper said.
-By Kirsti Hastings; Dow Jones Newswires; (852) 2832 2337; kirsti.hastings@dowjones.com |
