China Telecom to Operate ISP in Hong Kong
January 26, 1998 (HONG KONG) - China Telecom, the operating arm of China's Ministry of
Posts and Telecommunications, plans to set up an Internet service provider (ISP) in Hong Kong in
the first half of 1998.
The ISP will be run by the China Telecom (Hong Kong) Group (CTHKG), China Telecom's
subsidiary in Hong Kong which is also the parent company of China Telecom (HK). Ltd listed on
the Hong Kong and New York stock exchanges.
China Telecom, which used to be the exclusive telecom provider in China before the entry of China
United Telecommunication Ltd. (China Unicom), still hold the lion's share of China's telecom
market. It is also the operator of ChinaNet, China's main Internet backbone, which links China to
the United States and the rest of the world.
The ISP under planning in Hong Kong will use connecting facilities from AT&T Corp. of the United
States. In December 1997, CTHKG signed a contract with AT&T Asia/Pacific Group Ltd. for the
supply of systems integration services and global Internet access using the AT&T WorldNet
Managed Internet Service (MIS) for direct Internet connection to the United States and countries
in Asia-Pacific.
"Establishing our Internet service in Hong Kong represents a strategic point in our business
development and a further step in providing value-added services to our customers," said Shi
Cuiming, CTHKG's chairman and CEO.
Under the contract, CTHKG will get access to 24-hour, end-to-end network monitoring, as well
as technical support through AT&T WorldNet MIS.
This will enable CTHKG to connect its customers to the Internet via the AT&T WorldNet MIS
and the AT&T Internet backbone in the Asia-Pacific region.
The contract was a result of a memorandum of understanding between AT&T and CTHKG on
long-term cooperation signed in August 1997.
AT&T also signed a contract with China Telecom in late 1997 to provide China's first T45
connection. The AT&T T45 line will upgrade China Telecom's Internet access in China by
significantly increasing the bandwidth of ChinaNet.
"The number of Internet users is rapidly increasing and we are pleased to be helping China
Telecom as they work to connect more people to the Internet," said JoAnn Patrick-Ezzell,
president and CEO of AT&T Asia/Pacific.
(Keith Chan, Asia BizTech Correspondent) |
