Gates offers to support cyberport
Microsoft chairman Bill Gates lent his support yesterday to the $13 billion cyberport project.
Mr Gates, speaking at the launch of a joint venture with Hongkong Telecom, said: 'I think it's great the Government is working with private enterprise to create a place for software companies.
'Certainly it would make sense for us to have lab facilities and support facilities in the cyberport.' The project, announced in the Budget, is a government-led attempt to jump-start the development of a local electronic commerce industry. Mr Gates added: 'Three years ago, did the politicians here and in most countries talk about the Internet? They did not. Today, they see that as something that's going to create the economic growth for the next phase.' Mr Gates had dinner with Richard Li Tzar-kai, who is behind the cyberport venture, on Monday. No contracts have been signed, however.
Mr Li is writing the foreword to a Chinese-language edition of Mr Gates' new book, Business and the Speed of Thought: Using a Digital Nervous System.
'We've worked together with Richard over the years and if it's something he's enthused about, we'll be as helpful as we can be,' Mr Gates said.
Mr Gates' deal with Hongkong Telecom allows computer users to download news, films, music, games and business software at high speeds over Telecom's fibre-optic network.
One demonstration at the launch showed TV news video, a movie preview, text news stories, and a moving stock price ticker on the same computer screen.
The service, which will begin trials soon with a commercial service possibly ready by year's end, brings nearer the day when home users will use a single PC-TV to watch videos, surf the Web, and write e-mail. 'This is the Internet in a more powerful form than 99 per cent of users in the world have access to,' Mr Gates said.
Technology stocks rose sharply yesterday after it became clear Mr Gates would also sign deals with firms in Shenzhen today on a project to promote Windows software in television set-top boxes.
The project aims to use televisions to expand the use of the Internet in the mainland.
There are about 2.1 million Internet users in the mainland but more than 200 million televisions.
