Hongkong Telecom does not fear self-cannibalisation of its data traffic revenue when revised services and prices are introduced later this year. The planned introduction of full ISDN (Integrated Services Digital Network) services by Telecom will spark a major re-evaluation of network requirements by existing medium-bandwidth customers, according to David Bowers, group manager of data, fax and video service management. Mr Bowers said there would be a time lag between the introduction of new services and the implementation of them by network users because of terminal installation requirements and network revamps that would have to be designed to take full advantage of new services. Wide-and local-area network computer managers are expected to be the first beneficiaries of new ISDN services. Telecom is awaiting Ofta approval to set up a PRI (primary rate interface) ISDN service and reschedule the pre-ISDN BRI (basic rate interface) service, which is available as part of the Datapak circuit switched service (CSS) table. Mr Bowers was unable to divulge the expected tariff pending the Ofta decision but said it would be priced for all users, including individuals. A Hong Kong IT news service last week claimed the BRI price cut had been approved and released an estimated tariff, less than half of the existing rate. However, an HKT spokesman said the leak had not come from the company because it was barred from disclosing details of negotiations with Ofta. The Telecommunications Standards Advisory Committee met in July to discuss the ISDN issue but Ofta said the meeting's minutes have yet to be published. The existing Datapak Dataline BRI or 64K connection has a connection or relocation fee of $2,000, a monthly rental of $750 and a Hong Kong usage charge of $0.25 per minute. IDD usage charges vary for connections to destinations in different geographical zones. It is reasonable to assume the new PRI service would be set above that rate but the BRI would much lower. Hongkong Telecom's current services for heavy data and voice traffic networks are grouped in four product families: Datapak Circuit Switched Service (CSS). Datapak Packet Switched Service (PSS). Datapak Frame Relay Service (FRS) Datapak Digital Data Service (DDS). Mr Bowers said there had been no evidence of customers clamouring for the product but that was perhaps a misleading indicator of its popularity and possible application. 'There is never obvious demand for a product that doesn't exist,' he said. He said while Hongkong Telecom had monitored the adoption of ISDN overseas, the revised BRI and new PRI services would be positioned according to relevant Hong Kong conditions. 'The price trends of ISDN are hard to gauge in other markets. In the US, there is pressure from some quarters to actually put the price of ISDN up and in Europe, the prices are still falling. 'We hope that, with Ofta, we can agree on a mid-course setting for PRI in the territory.' Hongkong Telecom expects to respond quickly to a confirmation of the ISDN service approval. 'I would be disappointed if we measured our service implementation in weeks,' Mr Bowers said. 'We have been preparing for this for a while, we're in readiness.' Ofta spokesman Davey Chung said other fixed telecommunications licensees New T&T, Hutchison Telecom and New World Telephone were not required to go through the same approval process to set up a new ISDN service.
