Brave New World of business rises
Fixed-network operator New World Telephone will soon be offering a wider range of value-added services to customers, according to Albert Wong, director, technical and business development.
Products in the pipeline include International Virtual Private Network (IVPN) for multinational clients, high-speed ISDN (integrated services digital network) for voice, data and video conferencing, and ATM (asynchronous transfer mode).
A fast paging channel offering a broader delivery base and faster transmission is also being developed.
New World Telephone is probably best known in Hong Kong for the high profile of its 009 IDD service. But it has also made solid progress in the corporate sector.
The company's main business customers include First Pacific Bank and Hong Kong Jockey Club.
Mr Wong said New World had also done well in the hotel sector, gaining an estimated 40 per cent market share.
New World's flagship corporate product is Multicom, a package of business communications service options including Centrex, Frame Relay and voice services for small to medium business users.
The company also offers corporate subscribers the convenience of the 'power bill' - a soft copy customer bill carefully designed so a customer's accounts department can express the data in the manner most suitable for its own needs.
At the retail level, New World has been successful with its phone cards, including Go Card, featuring voice recognition of frequently called numbers and Talk Card.
The company began rolling out its network through the so-called 'golden bowl' districts, where business and related telecommunications traffic are concentrated, such as Central, Wan Chai, Admiralty and Tsim Sha Tsui.
'We are passing [linking] a lot of our target buildings in those districts but there are still some final negotiations going on with Hongkong Telecom on the lead-in facilities,' Mr Wong said.
New World sees business opportunities arising from the recent agreement between the Government and Hongkong Telecom which brought an early end to the company's remaining monopoly rights over international traffic.
Although the details have yet to be revealed, 50 per cent of residential lines are likely to be open to the three fixed-network competitors by the end of the year.
New World Telephone has completed two fixed- network switching centres in Tsim Sha Tsui and Chai Wan and a further three are being built in Tung Chung, Chek Lap Kok and on newly reclaimed land in Central.
'A distinct feature of our switching platform is a high capacity switch able to handle two million calls an hour,' Mr Wong said.
New World chose to start its roll-out by building its network skeleton along the route of the Mass Transit Railway bringing it close to major population centres.
'That is how we completed the initial phase in about a year,' he said. 'At the moment, we are building [network] exits at the MTR stations so we can draw traffic from the backbone [main network line] facilities.' New World is also targeting new developments such as Tung Chung on Lantau and Chek Lap Kok.
