ON-LINE service users in Hong Kong will soon be able to plug directly into the Internet via United States system CompuServe, but will have to cut through heavy red tape because of the company's relationship with its local distributor.
CompuServe plans to begin offering commercial customers high-speed T-1 connections to the Internet, plus dial-up connections using the point-to-point (PPP) protocol and other value-added features by November.
They will be offered by a new division of CompuServe that will begin trading as early as the middle of this month.
However, the services will not be marketed directly in Hong Kong because Motorola Air Communications, CompuServe's local distributor, only has the right to resell CompuServe Information Manager - or access to CompuServe alone.
Jean Ng, division manager for CompuServe Hong Kong, said companies in Hong Kong that wanted to use the new service would have to ''establish a relationship'' with CompuServe in the US. The connections would, however, be made through CompuServe's local node.
Ms Ng was unable to say if Motorola and CompuServe would rethink their arrangement for Hong Kong on-line service users.