TALKING to Hongkong Telecom's chairman Lord Young in London via the territory's last analogue telephone link, Governor Chris Patten yesterday marked the completion of an all-digital network in Hongkong.
Speaking on the first anniversary of his arrival in the territory, Mr Patten congratulated Lord Young on Hongkong Telecom's achievement in making Hongkong the world's first major city with a fully digital network.
''Digitalisation will mean a more intelligent network, one that is able to accommodate more subscribers and more calls, one that offers access to a wide range of flexible services,'' Mr Patten said.
As a result of network digitalisation, Hongkong Telecom said the level of productivity had been boosted by more than 25,000 man hours a day.
Hongkong Telecom deputy chief executive Peter Howell-Davies said an investment of $7 billion was put into the digitalisation programme started in the early 1980s.
Mr Howell-Davies said Hongkong Telecom would spend $3.9 billion this year on capital investment.
