PCCW planned to plough US$40 million into the commercial roll-out of its wireless broadband service in Britain next year, according to deputy chairman Jack So Chak-kwong.
The roll-out follows a successful trial of PCCW's proprietary wireless fixed platform in 300,000 homes in west London.
Having dubbed the service Netvigator, the Richard Li Tzar-kai-controlled telecommunications firm will clash with dominant telecoms operator BT and local cable firms while improving the poor penetration rate of broadband internet in Britain.
'We have drawn a very good response when putting the services on trial,' Mr So said yesterday. 'Our technology has been proven viable and we have decided to roll out the services in stages next year.'
The first stage would involve the establishment of 60 base stations, with precise locations and a time frame yet to be finalised, he said.
He added that a total of 900 base stations could eventually be established around Britain.
Having spent US$40 million developing the project, Mr So said, PCCW would fork out another US$40 million on the commercial roll-out of the service. He declined to specify the project's total investment but some analysts have estimated it at US$1 billion.
