Netscape opts for territory

Netscape Communications, the world's No 1 supplier of browsing software for the Internet, next week will announce formation of a North Asian headquarters in Hong Kong for technical and sales support in the region. Netscape, which sells its flagship product Navigator as shareware across the Internet and collects licence fees for large installations of browsing software, has failed to match Microsoft's direct marketing presence in Asia. Both companies released version 3.0 of their respective Web browsers last month. A Netscape southern Asian office will operate out of Singapore.