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At last, ISDN proves useful

ISDN (integrated digital services network) has had a long and chequered history, but after a decade of disappointment it appears finally to be coming of age.

For a long time it seemed ISDN was a technology without a use, and cynics in the industry quickly called it 'Innovations Subscribers Don't Need'.

But now communications and computing hardware have advanced to the point where they can take advantage of the capabilities that ISDN has to offer.

In Hong Kong, where we enjoy the advantages of an all-digital network, establishing an ISDN connection is as easy as falling off a log. With ISDN come the advantages of increased network bandwidth - such bliss as super-fast downloads and video-conferencing that gets beyond the jerky, blurred images that have become all too commonplace.

All we need now is competition to drive down the price of an ISDN connection.

In the United States ISDN is more commonplace (though, admittedly, not available in all areas). In places like San Francisco, the cost of an ISDN connection is about US$25 (about HK$193) per month.

Not bad considering the advantages it can bring to a Net user.

Hong Kong, unfortunately, is an entirely different story. An ISDN connection costs a flat HK$2,000. Then, if you already possess a modem, the monthly Hongkong Telecom subscription fee is $750. That's the good news.

If you don't have a modem, Telecom will gleefully rent one to you as a part of its overall subscription package - for HK$2,950. This is not cheap.

The end of such high pricing is in sight - but only just. The three new market entrants will inevitably cause a downward shift in pricing strategies.

But the re-wiring of Hong Kong will undoubtedly take some time. How long is anyone's guess. It does seem rather a shame.

I would tend to agree with Chinese University Charles Kao's theory that Hong Kong is perfectly positioned to become a testing ground for new technologies.

Apart from having excellent network infrastructure, Hong Kong has another rare advantage in the mentality of its people. The public has continually proved itself to be very receptive to any kind of new communications technology.

If the new technology works, you can be sure Hong Kong people will make full use of it.

These characteristics of Hong Kong make it a superb testing-ground - test market if you like - for new telecommunications products. And with the growing importance of telecommunications in the global information economy, this can only be good news for the Hong Kong economy.

Back to ISDN. If we could get some sensible pricing on this ageing technology, I am sure there would be no shortage of local users.

WHILE on a general rant about telecommunications pricing, something must be said about mobile telephone surcharges.

While it is true that demand far outstrips supply in Hong Kong - thereby making it a sellers' market - there are some pricing issues within the mobile phone framework that are ludicrous - I mean the reconnection fee if your phone is cut off for not paying your bill.

Without wishing to single out the company concerned (because they are all as bad as each other), a reconnection fee of $500 would seem nothing short of highway robbery.

After all, a reconnection in the digital age no longer means men in trucks lumbering around to someone's residence in order to flick a switch. Rather it is a matter of a computer operator pressing a button.

Apart from this complaint, the telecommunications industry is without peer in its pace of evolution and dynamism.

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