Hongkong Telecom's NetPlus has upgraded its Internet backbone to help speed up the exchange of data between Hong Kong and the mainland. Its 512 kilobits-per-second (kbps) direct link to Guangzhou and another 128-kbps link to Shanghai were recently unveiled following the inauguration of a 512-kbps circuit to Beijing in April. The circuits are to be upgraded to T1 by the end of the year to support data transmission of 1.544 megabits per second. The enhanced backbone was set up for the increasing intranet and electronic commerce between the mainland and Hong Kong after the handover. It also is intended to aid Internet roaming on the mainland. To provide improved dial-up services for its Internet subscribers, the company's Internet service branch, Hongkong Telecom Interactive Multimedia Services, has added K56flex modems to its existing x2 56K modem pool to offer another choice of high-speed Internet access.
