Mainland and Hong Kong telecommunications firms offering video and audio teleconferencing are hoping to boost traffic growth as a result of the Sars crisis.
AsiaInfo Holdings, a Nasdaq-listed company that provides network and server solutions to China Unicom, said it expected a turnaround in its business fortunes on the back of rising demand for video conferencing and other telecommunications services.
'Some of our customers did indicate that their video conference demand is increasing, most likely due to the reduction in travel and the caution,' chairman James Ding told a group of investors.
Audio rather than video conferencing is proving popular due to cost advantages.
Industry executives said an hour-long video would cost between HK$80,000 and HK$100,000, while audio cost a few thousand dollars per hour.
Wharf T&T vice-president Tony Cheung Tung-lan said audio conferencing sales had risen 35 per cent since the outbreak of Sars in Hong Kong.
