PCCW
Encyclopedia
PCCW Limited is the holding company of HKT Group Holdings Limited, Hong Kong's premier telecommunications provider in the Information and Communications Technologies (ICT) industry. PCCW also holds a majority interest in Pacific Century Premium Developments Limited. PCCW is headquartered in Hong Kong and maintains a presence in Europe, the Middle East, Africa, the Americas, mainland China and other parts of Asia.

PCCW shares are listed on Hong Kong Stock Exchange , and traded in the form of American Depositary Receipts on the Pink OTC Markets in the US (Ticker: PCCWY).

Main business

HKT Group Holdings Limited (HKT) was formed in 2008 to hold the telecommunications services, media and IT solutions businesses of the PCCW Group in a reorganization designed to improve the Group's operational efficiencies. As provider of Hong Kong's first quadruple-play experience, PCCW/HKT offers a range of media content and services across four platforms – fixed-line, broadband Internet, TV and mobile. PCCW is responsible for one of the world's largest commercial deployments of IPTV services under the now TV brand. In addition, the Group meets the telecommunications needs of the local and international business community, while supporting network operators with technical services and handling large-scale IT outsourcing projects for public and private sector organizations.

In recent years, the Group has made the transition from a traditional telecom operator to a next-generation provider of media content, applications and transactional services.

With more than 2.58 million business and residential lines in service, the Group has a leadership position in the fixed-line market in Hong Kong. In the broadband market, its NETVIGATOR Internet broadband service has the largest share of the market with 1.367 million retail and business customers. The Group's IPTV service, now TV, has reached more than 40% of the estimated 2.3 million households in Hong Kong. The Group under the PCCW mobile brand has also invested significantly in expanding its 3G network since its return to the mobile market in 2005 – since then its 3G customer number has grown more than 10 times.

PCCW/HKT has more than 8,000 PCCW Wi-Fi hotspots cover various busy locations such as food outlets, shopping malls, universities, and public transport, and the number is growing continuously. After laying enough optical fibers in Hong Kong to circle the planet 33 times, the Group has made the broadband capabilities of this technology available to some 77% of the territory's households at speeds of up to 1,000 Mbit/s.

Quadruple-play

PCCW/HKT is the only operator in Hong Kong - and one of the few in the world - to offer genuine quadruple-play experience to customers. This means that the same infotainment, applications and transactional services are made available where appropriate via the four customer-delivery platforms - fixed-line, broadband Internet, mobile and TV. Customers can tailor their own lifestyle according to personal preference and schedule.

A considerable part of the infotainment content comes from now TV, launched in 2003 and widely regarded as one of the world's most successful commercial deployments of IPTV. As of December 2010, now TV had expanded its customer base to 1,039,000 subscribers. Viewers may choose from more than 190 channels, about half of which offer movies, sports, news and general entertainment programs.

The flexibility of the Group's quadruple-play capability allows customers to watch now TV programming not only on a TV set, but also on a mobile phone, an online PC, or its eye Multimedia Service and PCCW eye2. Also available under the quadruple-play offerings is a range of lifestyle services such as the MOOV digital music streaming, snaap! (where friends and families can share photos and videos stored digitally on the PCCW/HKT network and view them via the quadruple-play platforms), Yellow Pages directories, etc.

Commercial and International Business

The PCCW Commercial Group is providing integrated ICT solutions to small, medium and large enterprises. One of its milestone commercial projects was Asia's largest IP-enabled network for securities and derivatives markets. Built for Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing Limited and known as SDNet, the network lays the foundation for the long-term growth of Hong Kong as an international financial center.

PCCW Solutions is the Group's IT and business process outsourcing flagship. It has worked on projects for customers in financial services, public service, telecommunications and the enterprise community. Its accomplishments include a state-of-the-art Electronic Passport System, known as e-PASS, and the Smart Identity Card system for the Hong Kong SAR Government.

PCCW Teleservices operates a contact center outsourcing business and boasts one of the region's largest contact management networks and a significant operation in the U.S. It handles inbound and outbound calls, emails and other transactions for customers, and serves many multinational companies.

PCCW Global provides integrated global communications solutions, runs a fully meshed IP, fiber and satellite network and serves the voice, data and multimedia needs of multinational enterprises, as well as the operational requirements of service providers.

Geographical operations

PCCW's businesses have a presence in the following regions:

  • People's Republic of China
    People's Republic of China
    China , officially the People's Republic of China , is the most populous country in the world, with over 1.3 billion citizens. Located in East Asia, the country covers approximately 9.6 million square kilometres...

  • Hong Kong
    Hong Kong
    Hong Kong is one of two Special Administrative Regions of the People's Republic of China , the other being Macau. A city-state situated on China's south coast and enclosed by the Pearl River Delta and South China Sea, it is renowned for its expansive skyline and deep natural harbour...

  • Macau
    Macau
    Macau , also spelled Macao , is, along with Hong Kong, one of the two special administrative regions of the People's Republic of China...

  • Japan
    Japan
    Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...

  • Korea
    Korea
    Korea ) is an East Asian geographic region that is currently divided into two separate sovereign states — North Korea and South Korea. Located on the Korean Peninsula, Korea is bordered by the People's Republic of China to the northwest, Russia to the northeast, and is separated from Japan to the...

  • Malaysia
  • United Arab Emirates
    United Arab Emirates
    The United Arab Emirates, abbreviated as the UAE, or shortened to "the Emirates", is a state situated in the southeast of the Arabian Peninsula in Western Asia on the Persian Gulf, bordering Oman, and Saudi Arabia, and sharing sea borders with Iraq, Kuwait, Bahrain, Qatar, and Iran.The UAE is a...

  • Saudi Arabia
    Saudi Arabia
    The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia , commonly known in British English as Saudi Arabia and in Arabic as as-Sa‘ūdiyyah , is the largest state in Western Asia by land area, constituting the bulk of the Arabian Peninsula, and the second-largest in the Arab World...

  • Singapore
    Singapore
    Singapore , officially the Republic of Singapore, is a Southeast Asian city-state off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, north of the equator. An island country made up of 63 islands, it is separated from Malaysia by the Straits of Johor to its north and from Indonesia's Riau Islands by the...

  • Taiwan
    Taiwan
    Taiwan , also known, especially in the past, as Formosa , is the largest island of the same-named island group of East Asia in the western Pacific Ocean and located off the southeastern coast of mainland China. The island forms over 99% of the current territory of the Republic of China following...

  • United States
    United States
    The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

  • Canada
    Canada
    Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...

  • United Kingdom
    United Kingdom
    The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...

  • France
    France
    The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...

  • Greece
    Greece
    Greece , officially the Hellenic Republic , and historically Hellas or the Republic of Greece in English, is a country in southeastern Europe....



Fixed-line.

PCCW's fixed-line service, eye Multimedia Service and PCCW eye2 are delivered by Hong Kong Telecommunications (HKT) Limited, an operating division of HKT Group Holdings Limited. The Group's fixed-line network enables users to make local and international phone calls with voice availability of 99.99%.

As a breakthrough in voice communications service, the eye Multimedia Service also provides a wide range of infotainment and practical applications. Users can make voice or video calls, watch now TV, access a digital music service, listen to fairytale stories, learn languages, listen to Cantonese opera, shop from home, pay bills, browse Yellow Pages, check real-time stock quotes, place bets and watch live horse-racing, purchase Mark Six, check Octopus transactions, etc. PCCW eye2 is a portable media center with an 8 inches (203.2 mm) touch-screen LED monitor, through which customers can access more than 100 types of content and interactive applications.

Broadband Internet.

As one of the Group's four Quadruple-play platforms, NETVIGATOR is Hong Kong's leading broadband provider. NETVIGATOR reaches 97% of all households in Hong Kong and serves broadband users with a choice of Internet access speeds, plus practical value-added services. The capabilities of optical fiber are available to 67% of Hong Kong's households via a variety of NETVIGATOR Fiber Direct service packages.

NETVIGATOR broadband users can stay connected to the Internet anytime, anywhere via NETVIGATOR Home Wireless, more than 8,000 PCCW Wi-Fi hotspots and NETVIGATOR Everywhere, a unique wireless solution interconnecting Wi-Fi•HSPA networks.

Mobile.

PCCW mobile is an operating division of HKT Group Holdings Limited (HKT).

As well as providing voice and data communications, PCCW mobile serves a broad spectrum of customers by offering media content and interactive services as one of the Group's four quadruple-play platforms. This enables subscribers to choose mobile services, such as real-time TV, streamed digital music, shared viewing of photos and video clips, remote monitoring, ticketing, instant messaging, email solutions and an integrated fixed/mobile office communications solution
Solution
In chemistry, a solution is a homogeneous mixture composed of only one phase. In such a mixture, a solute is dissolved in another substance, known as a solvent. The solvent does the dissolving.- Types of solutions :...

.

IPTV

now TV is one of the world's largest commercial deployments of IPTV and one of the largest pay-TV providers at Hong Kong. It is delivered by PCCW Media, an operating division of HKT Group Holdings Limited (HKT).
now TV serves Hong Kong with more than 190 channels of local, Asian and international programming, including premium content such as Spanish La Liga, Italian Serie A, French Ligue 1, J-League, French Open, ATP World Tour, and World Snooker Tour. In addition, now TV is both a leading producer of news, sports and infotainment programming and a provider of a wide range of interactive services. now TV can be enjoyed on PCCW eye2, a portable media center with an embedded now TV decoder, and select now TV content and interactive applications can also be accessed via the Group's 3G mobile network and broadband service.

PCCW Engineering.

PCCW announced the formation of wholly owned subsidiary CASCADE Limited in January 2003 and transferred almost a quarter of its total work force to Cascade. Cascade employs more than 3,000 staff as of June 2003.
Cascade provides PCCW's telecommunications network operations with support and maintenance services. It provides also network infrastructure design, build-out and maintenance services, consulting solutions, customer installation and maintenance services, project management, operating systems development and maintenance and technical support to clients other than PCCW.
Started from Dec 08, Cascade became a Subsidiary of PCCW-HKT Limited, which PCCW-HKT is still 100% owned by PCCW. The name of Cascade is removed from now on, become a part of HKT and named as "Engineering", a business unit of PCCW-HKT, simply like Commercial group of PCCW. All staff in Cascade had transferred to PCCW-HKT without changing.

PCCW Global

PCCW Global is an operating division of HKT Group Holdings Limited (HKT).
With centers in Hong Kong, Herndon, Virginia in the US, London in the UK, and Dubai in the United Arab Emirates, plus teams covering the Middle East, Africa, Europe, Asia and the Americas, PCCW Global supply the voice and data needs of multinational enterprises, as well as the operational requirements of service providers.
The PCCW Global network covers over 1,500 cities and 110 countries, and supports a list of integrated global communications solutions which include:
  • IP solutions;
  • Transmission solutions including fiber and satellite;
  • Managed services and solutions; and
  • Voice services.

Incident with YouTube

On 24 February 2008, Pakistan Telecom caused a major interruption of access to the video sharing website YouTube. Pakistani Government authorities directed Pakistan Telecom (PTCL) to "block" the YouTube site, to prevent access within Pakistan. PTCL engineers accidentally leaked a "black hole" announcement to PCCW. PCCW had recently provided temporary access to PTCL in order to restore the nation's loss of internet access due to a previous major submarine cable break event. PTCL began leaking the "black hole" BGP announcement to PCCW prior to PCCW's completion of the BGP validation and filtering policies process on the newly activated link. This allowed the announcement to propagate to other networks.

http://news.cnet.com/8301-10784_3-9878655-7.html

http://www.networkworld.com/news/2008/031008-youtube-pakistan.html

http://www.circleid.com/posts/82258_pakistan_hijacks_youtube_closer_look

http://www.betanews.com/article/Pakistan-YouTube-incident-adds-to-international-outage/1203967670
Once detected, PCCW immediately blocked the leaked announcement from PTCL and access was restored to YouTube within 2 hours."

PCCW Solutions (Unihub, Business eSolutions)

As an operating division of HKT Group Holdings Limited (HKT), PCCW Solutions is the IT and business process outsourcing flagship of the Group.

PCCW Solutions
PCCW Solutions
PCCW Solutions is an Information Technology Outsourcing and Business Process Outsourcing provider, which is a wholly owned subsidiary of PCCW...

 is the information technology
Information technology
Information technology is the acquisition, processing, storage and dissemination of vocal, pictorial, textual and numerical information by a microelectronics-based combination of computing and telecommunications...

 services and business process outsourcing
Business process outsourcing
Business process outsourcing is a subset of outsourcing that involves the contracting of the operations and responsibilities of specific business functions to a third-party service provider. Originally, this was associated with manufacturing firms, such as Coca Cola that outsourced large segments...

 (BPO) division of PCCW. Press releases prior to February 2006 refer to it by the name Unihub. It is owned by Wen Yunsong
Wen Yunsong
Wen Yunsong, also known as Winston Wen is a Chinese man and current CEO of Unihub Global Networks, a Chinese networking company. He is the son of current Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao and a jewellery expert. Mr. Wen was a principal of New Horizon Capital, a private equity fund. He graduated from...

, son of China's prime minister Wen Jiabao
Wen Jiabao
Wen Jiabao is the sixth and current Premier and Party secretary of the State Council of the People's Republic of China, serving as China's head of government and leading its cabinet. In his capacity as Premier, Wen is regarded as the leading figure behind China's economic policy...

. Unihib was a re-branding of PCCW's Business eSolutions division, from 1 September 2003.

Business eSolutions division formed a venture with China Telecom
China Telecom
China Telecom Corp. Ltd. is a Chinese state-owned telecommunication company. It is the largest fixed line service and 3rd largest mobile telecommunication provider in the People's Republic of China.-Sectors:...

 to provide IT solutions to major business organizations in 2002. This was in addition to PCCW's PCITC alliance with Sinopec
Sinopec
China Petroleum & Chemical Corporation Limited , or Sinopec Limited , is a majority owned subsidiary of state owned company Sinopec Group. Sinopec Limited is listed in Hong Kong and also trades in Shanghai and New York ....

, formed to serve Sinopec plus other players in China's petrochemical sector. The division also contributed to the new Hong Kong Identity Card
Hong Kong Identity Card
The Hong Kong Identity Card is an official identity document issued by the Immigration Department of Hong Kong. The Hong Kong Permanent Identity Card is a class of HKID issued to Hong Kong residents who have the right of abode in Hong Kong SAR. According to the Registration of Persons Ordinance...

 system in 2003.

In early 2003, Business eSolutions entered a contract to provide services for Bank of China
Bank of China
Bank of China Limited is one of the big four state-owned commercial banks of the People's Republic of China. It was founded in 1912 by the Government of the Republic of China, to replace the Government Bank of Imperial China. It is the oldest bank in China...

's credit-card back office
Back office
A back office is a part of most corporations where tasks dedicated to running the company itself takes place. The term "Back office" comes from the building layout of early companies where the front office would contain the sales and other customer-facing staff and the back office would be those...

 processing system in China. It also extended a 2002 enterprise resource planning
Enterprise resource planning
Enterprise resource planning systems integrate internal and external management information across an entire organization, embracing finance/accounting, manufacturing, sales and service, customer relationship management, etc. ERP systems automate this activity with an integrated software application...

 (ERP) project into more provinces for China Mobile
China Mobile
China Mobile Limited is a Chinese state-owned telecommunication company that provides mobile voice and multimedia services through its nationwide mobile telecommunications network, the largest of its kind in the world...

 and completed the flight information display system
Flight information display system
A Flight Information Display system is a computer system used in airports to display flight information to passengers, in which a computer system controls mechanical or electronic display boards or TV screens in order to display arrivals and departures flight information in real-time. The displays...

 (FIDS) for Xiamen Airport
Xiamen Gaoqi International Airport
-Cargo airlines:-See also:*List of airports in the People's Republic of China*China's busiest airports by passenger traffic-External links:*...

, and a human resource management
Human resource management
Human Resource Management is the management of an organization's employees. While human resource management is sometimes referred to as a "soft" management skill, effective practice within an organization requires a strategic focus to ensure that people resources can facilitate the achievement of...

 and financial management system for the Hong Kong Council of Social Service.

PCPD

Majority-owned by PCCW, Pacific Century Premium Developments Limited ("PCPD", SEHK: 00432) is principally engaged in the development and management of premium property and infrastructure projects, as well as investment in premium-grade buildings in the Asia-Pacific region.
PCPD holds the development rights for the Cyberport project, which is owned by the Government of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region and includes the prestigious Bel-Air residential development.
Apart from the signature Bel-Air residential development, PCPD holds the first right of refusal to join with PCCW to redevelop PCCW-owned telephone exchange buildings into residential and / or commercial properties. While it continues to explore high-end development potential in Hong Kong, PCPD also plans to pursue opportunities in the mainland China property market. As part of the ongoing exploration of development potential in other parts of Asia Pacific, PCPD has drawn up long-term plans to develop resorts at Hanazono, Hokkaido in Japan and Phang-nga in Southern Thailand.
(sourced from http://www.pcpd.com)

UK Broadband

The UK Broadband Group (UKBG) provides equipment and wireless services and solution
Solution
In chemistry, a solution is a homogeneous mixture composed of only one phase. In such a mixture, a solute is dissolved in another substance, known as a solvent. The solvent does the dissolving.- Types of solutions :...

s to the telecommunications industry, service providers, channel partners and the public sector in the U.K. The Group holds multiple licenses for both fixed and mobile spectrum. It offers include 4th generation Wireless Technology (4G), Wi-Fi, Wireless Ethernet and fixed high-speed wireless link services, as well as wholesale wireless data capacity.
UKBG is a wholly owned subsidiary of PCCW and it combines the role of being PCCW's 4G wireless technology centre with building a wireless services, and wholesale data capacity business in the UK focused on B2B and B2G customers, in particular the public sector and businesses looking for wireless data solutions for their needs in CCTV, mobile working, education, healthcare, disciplined services, transport, data offload, wireless Ethernet and resilient connectivity.
(source: http://www.ukbroadband.co.uk/)

PCCW Corporate Social Responsibility

PCCW contributes to the community through sponsorship, environment friendly practices and volunteer services.

The PCCW CSR Policy sets forth standards of social behavior that are able to meet and exceed the ethical, legal, commercial and public expectations in five focus areas. They are:Caring for Community, Caring for Environment, Caring for People, Supply Chain Management and Corporate Governance.
Community services - PCCW provides communications services for a variety of social service schemes. This includes support for students, single parents, the unemployed, distressed people and the elderly who benefit from counseling hotlines, info-line services for Medilink and networks to help find employment.[6]

During each year, PCCW continues to contribute to the community by providing practical and financial help to charitable, community, cultural and environmental causes. Volunteer service groups formed by PCCW employees and their family members also continue to provide their long-term service or ad hoc programs.

Caring for Environment - PCCW assigns a high priority to the protection of the environment when conducting company activities. PCCW has been a member of the Environmental Committee of the Hong Kong General Chamber of Commerce since the early 90s. The Committee periodically meets to discuss environmental issues such as Hong Kong air quality and carbon reduction measures. PCCW has also been a Board member of Business Environment Council (BEC) since the early 90s and was one of the founding members of Private Sector Committee on the Environment (PSCE).

Caring for People - Employee Caring - PCCW activities in relation to employee caring can be categorized into four areas: employee satisfaction initiatives; learning and development; health and safety; and employee welfare.

Supply Chain Management - PCCW maintains relationships with more than 1,000 suppliers globally. It has been a practice to require its suppliers to comply with the necessary regulations governing labor, health and safety, environment, etc. To meet the increasingly stringent requirements as a leading corporate citizen, the Company aims to adopt a more coordinated approach in the supply chain management and to help suppliers understand its CSR policies and practices.

Corporate Governance - The principles of good governance serve to uphold a high standard of ethics, transparency, responsibilities and integrity in all aspects of business and to ensure that corporate affairs are conducted in accordance with applicable laws and regulations. The Company Board endorses a Corporate Governance Report each year and it is published in its annual report .

Education

The PCCW foundation has provided sponsorship for local data network service for the Internet2 project initiated by the Joint Universities Computer Center (JUCC). The project enables staff and students at local universities to connect and exchange with Internet2 universities all over the world in researching the next generation of networking technologies.
The foundation also supports the Workplace English Campaign and other education-related initiatives, such as annual scholarships for top students nominated by local universities.

Corporate history

PCCW was formed by Richard Li
Richard Li
Richard Li Tzar Kai is the younger son of successful entrepreneur Li Ka-Shing and brother of Victor Li.Li was 26th in the Forbes List of Hong Kong’s 40 Richest people for 2010...

, the younger son of Hong Kong tycoon Li Ka Shing. Formerly Pacific Century Development, it was an investment holding company. The company's English name was changed from "Pacific Century CyberWorks Limited" to "PCCW Limited" on 9 August 2002.

It then won a controversial land deal, acquiring valuable waterfront real estate from the government without any public auction
Public auction
A public auction is an auction held on behalf of a government in which the property to be auctioned is either property owned by the government, or property which is sold under the authority of a court of law or a government agency with similar authority....

 bids. Many in Hong Kong cried cronyism, as the Hong Kong Government, under chief executive Tung Chee Hwa
Tung Chee Hwa
Tung Chee Hwa, GBM was the first Chief Executive and President of the Executive Council of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China....

, gave away the land to his new high-tech residential and commercial venture called Cyberport
Cyberport
Cyberport is a creative digital community with a cluster of technology and digital content tenants. It is owned and managed by Hong Kong Cyberport Management Company Limited which is wholly owned by the Hong Kong SAR Government...

.

The stock of Pacific Century CyberWorks from $6.00 to $19.50 in December 1 to 28, 1999. Dec 23 is a Heritage of Pacific Century CyberWorks, break record of single company in Hong Kong history with 5 billion dollars transaction. Pacific Century CyberWorks become the seventh ( value over 170 billion HKD ) listing company in Hong Kong Exchange in Dec 28, 1999.

PCCW acquired Hong Kong Telecom (HKT) in August 2000, which was formerly known as the Hong Kong Telephone Company (founded in 1925). Initially, HKT owner Cable & Wireless
Cable & Wireless
Cable & Wireless Worldwide PLC is a global telecommunications company headquartered in Bracknell, United Kingdom. Cable & Wireless specialises in providing communication networks and services to large corporates, governments, carrier customers and resellers...

 entertained a bid from Singapore Telecommunications
Singapore Telecommunications
Singapore Telecommunications Limited , commonly abbreviated as SingTel, is a Singaporean telecommunications company, with a combined mobile subscriber base of 416 million customers from its own operations and regional associates in 25 countries at end of June 2011 increased by 19 percent from a...

, but there was Beijing concern about a Singapore company owning the largest Hong Kong telephone system. PCCW entered the scene and offered Cable and Wireless PCCW stock and US$11 billion in bank loans by HSBC, Bank of China, BNP Paribas & Barclays. The acquisition vaulted PCCW from a dot-com
Dot-com company
A dot-com company, or simply a dot-com , is a company that does most of its business on the Internet, usually through a website that uses the popular top-level domain, ".com" .While the term can refer to present-day companies, it is also used specifically to refer to companies with...

 holdings company to one of the largest universal corporation
Corporation
A corporation is created under the laws of a state as a separate legal entity that has privileges and liabilities that are distinct from those of its members. There are many different forms of corporations, most of which are used to conduct business. Early corporations were established by charter...

s in Hong Kong. PCCW is now also the leading Internet service provider
Internet service provider
An Internet service provider is a company that provides access to the Internet. Access ISPs directly connect customers to the Internet using copper wires, wireless or fiber-optic connections. Hosting ISPs lease server space for smaller businesses and host other people servers...

 in Hong Kong, using the Netvigator
Netvigator
Netvigator is the first and largest residential Internet service provider in Hong Kong, operated as a brand of PCCW. The company did offer iTV, an interactive movie television network that allowed users to watch movies on their TV screen by demand. The service ended in 2002...

 brand for dialup modem and DSL
Digital Subscriber Line
Digital subscriber line is a family of technologies that provides digital data transmission over the wires of a local telephone network. DSL originally stood for digital subscriber loop. In telecommunications marketing, the term DSL is widely understood to mean Asymmetric Digital Subscriber Line ,...

 service. PCCW has been the object of much scorn in Hong Kong as a result of the HKT purchase. In 2003 the company's stock price was down 96 percent from its 2000 peak. In the face of challenges due to debt, intense local telecoms competition and a struggling international joint venture Reach (50/50 owned by PCCW and Telstra
Telstra
Telstra Corporation Limited is an Australian telecommunications and media company, building and operating telecommunications networks and marketing voice, mobile, internet access and pay television products and services....

), PCCW was the worst-performing blue chip on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange
Hong Kong Stock Exchange
The Hong Kong Stock Exchange is a stock exchange located in Hong Kong. It is Asia's third largest stock exchange in terms of market capitalization behind the Tokyo Stock Exchange and the Shanghai Stock Exchange and fifth largest in the world...

 (HKSE) in 2002 and 2003.

In 2003, Cable and Wireless finished cashing in all the stock from the 14.7 percent stake it had in PCCW. Worth US$5 billion at the time of the 2000 acquisition of HKT, the stock sales yielded only $1.9 billion in the end.

Richard Li gave up his spot as PCCW's chief executive officer in July 2003 but remained as chairman and executive director. Jack So
Jack So
Jack So Chak-kwong born in 1945 is the first and current Chairman of the Hong Kong Film Development Council.-Biography:Jack So assumed the Chairmanship of the Hong Kong Trade Development Council on 1 October 2007. In this capacity, he presides over a 19-member Council comprising representatives...

, who left his chairman position at Hong Kong subway operator MTR Corporation Limited, took up the job of group managing director at PCCW on 25 July 2003.

Attempted exit

Although PCCW's substantial shareholder China Netcom had earlier expressed objection to any disposal of key assets to foreign groups, it also refused to increase its stake; Richard Li attempted to exit from the business in 2006. Li received competing offers by two consortia led by Australia's Macquarie Bank and private equity firm Texas Pacific Group/Newbridge submitted expressions of interest last month to acquire PCCW's core telecom and media assets.

PCCW chairman Richard Li
Richard Li
Richard Li Tzar Kai is the younger son of successful entrepreneur Li Ka-Shing and brother of Victor Li.Li was 26th in the Forbes List of Hong Kong’s 40 Richest people for 2010...

 has agreed to sell his indirectly held 22.66 percent stake in PCCW on 11 July 2006 to Fiorlatte Ltd, a new startup company wholly owned by Francis Leung Pak-to, for a total consideration of HK$9.16 billion. In turn, Francis Leung Pak-to has agreed to sell an 8% stake in PCCW to Telefónica
Telefónica
Telefónica, S.A. is a Spanish broadband and telecommunications provider in Europe and Latin America. Operating globally, it is the third largest provider in the world...

 for 323 million euros. Leung, former Peregrine
Peregrine Investments Holdings
Peregrine was an investment company based in Hong Kong...

 investment banker, is closely associated with Li Ka-shing. PCCW's stock, which had joined Hang Seng Index
Hang Seng Index
The Hang Seng Index is a freefloat-adjusted market capitalization-weighted stock market index in Hong Kong. It is used to record and monitor daily changes of the largest companies of the Hong Kong stock market and is the main indicator of the overall market performance in Hong Kong...

 (HSI) index on 9 August 2000, ceased to be a HSI constituent, effective 10 June 2008. PCCW

Purported Cable & Wireless takeover bid

News report from the Sunday Times
The Sunday Times (UK)
The Sunday Times is a Sunday broadsheet newspaper, distributed in the United Kingdom. The Sunday Times is published by Times Newspapers Ltd, a subsidiary of News International, which is in turn owned by News Corporation. Times Newspapers also owns The Times, but the two papers were founded...

 on 6 February 2003 revealed that PCCW made a preliminary takeover approach to Cable & Wireless on December 2002 as the British company's share languished near record lows.

Li told the Sunday Times newspaper that PCCW would not launch a hostile bid for C&W but that the two companies could work together to enhance shareholders' value.

The Times quoted Li as saying that he was planning to try again that week with a two billion pound (US$3.27 billion) bid for C&W. Following the news report, PCCW issued a statement through the Hong Kong stock exchange on 6 February 2003 morning saying it had not made a formal offer for C&W and was not in takeover talks with the company. Later in the day, in London and Hong Kong, PCCW issued statements saying it had made a preliminary takeover approach to C&W in a letter at the end of 2002.

PCCW apologised on 10 February 2003 for making what were seen by some in the market as contradictory statements. The Hong Kong Stock Exchange
Hong Kong Stock Exchange
The Hong Kong Stock Exchange is a stock exchange located in Hong Kong. It is Asia's third largest stock exchange in terms of market capitalization behind the Tokyo Stock Exchange and the Shanghai Stock Exchange and fifth largest in the world...

 demanded an explanation from PCCW after noting discrepancies between the two statements regarding its approach to C&W about a possible bid.

In any case, C&W had rebuffed PCCW's takeover approach by February 2003.

Privatization plan

An attempt was made in December 2008 to take the company private. On 30 December, majority shareholders Pacific Century Regional Developments, controlled by Richard Li, and China Unicom Group raised their joint offer for PCCW from HK$4.20 a share, minutes before shareholders were due to vote on the original buyout plan.

In a heated shareholders meeting held on 4 February 2009 which lasted seven and a half hours, the shareholders approved the PCCW plan allowing its majority shareholders to force out all minority shareholders of the company amidst allegations of vote-buying. Privatisation would allow PCCW to be delisted from Hong Kong Stock Exchange, while its parent would remain listed in Singapore.

Governance activist David Webb
David Michael Webb
David Michael Webb , usually known as David Webb, is a well-known activist and share market analyst in Hong Kong. He is a retired Investment Banker, and now devotes much of his time to advocating solutions for better corporate and economic governance in Hong Kong...

 alerted the authorities to allegations that hundreds of agents at Fortis Insurance Co. (Asia), once part of PCCW, may have been given board lots of 1,000 PCCW shares. The Securities and Futures Commission found that Francis Yuen, a Li associate and member of the buyout group, had instructed a senior executive at Fortis to distribute PCCW shares to about 500 Fortis agents. Yuen and Fortis Asia regional director, Inneo Lam, had exchanged telephone calls shortly before Lam ordered half a million PCCW shares that were later split into board lots and given away to his staff; Lam's secretary had asked for, and received, share transfer forms from Yuen's secretary. Majority shareholders gained approval from the High Court to proceed in their US$2.2 billion privatisation, but the Appeals Court unanimously overturned the ruling.

See also

  • Hong Kong Telecom
    Hong Kong Telecom
    Hong Kong Telecommunications Limited, Hong Kong Telecom , or Cable & Wireless HKT Limited later, was the largest telecommunications service provider in Hong Kong. It was parented by Cable & Wireless. It had a dominant position in fixed-line, IDD and broadband services in Hong Kong...

  • Now TV
    Now TV
    Now TV is a 24-hour pay-TV service provider in Hong Kong.It is transmitted through the company's Netvigator broadband network via an IPTV service...

  • Netvigator
    Netvigator
    Netvigator is the first and largest residential Internet service provider in Hong Kong, operated as a brand of PCCW. The company did offer iTV, an interactive movie television network that allowed users to watch movies on their TV screen by demand. The service ended in 2002...

  • PCCW Mobile
    PCCW Mobile
    PCCW Mobile HK Limited is a subsidiary of PCCW Limited involving 2G and 3G mobile communications service in Hong Kong. It was formerly Sunday Communications Limited . It was acquired by PCCW and renamed PCCW Mobile HK Limited in 2005. PCCW made this acquisition to return to mobile business after...

  • PCCW Solutions
    PCCW Solutions
    PCCW Solutions is an Information Technology Outsourcing and Business Process Outsourcing provider, which is a wholly owned subsidiary of PCCW...

  • Jaleco
    Jaleco
    is a Japanese video game publisher and developer established in 2006.The original Jaleco Ltd was founded in 1974. In 2006, it decided to become a pure holding company by renaming itself Jaleco Holding and splitting its video game operations into a newly created subsdiary that took its former name...


External links

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