Hutchison Global Communications (HGC) plans to establish seven regional offices in the next three months in an effort to expand its fixed-line operations beyond its home market in Hong Kong.
Chief executive Peter Wong King-fai said the company had plans to apply for a carrier licence, or 'type 2' licence, in Taiwan and Singapore.
HGC also intends to open its first regional offices in three locations within the first quarter.
The move by the Li Ka-shing controlled company to capture growth in the regional voice and data market was seen as complementary to its parent Hutchison Whampoa's pending acquisition of Global Crossing, the bankrupt undersea cable operator.
'We have to look beyond Hong Kong for growth, as it is such a limited market,' said Mr Wong, before the kick off of International Telecom Union's Telecom Asia 2002 conference. '[Outside markets are] going to be our major growth driver in the years to come.'
Mr Wong said HGC would focus on the wholesaling business - which includes selling bandwidth, international direct dialling and Internet protocol-based value-added services - with carriers in other countries. Later, it would work on providing services for multinational corporations.
Andrew Kwok, who joined HGC to spearhead international operations, said it had business with 10 carriers in the region, but would look to increase to more than 20 carriers in a year.