Stories by Stephen Lawson

HKT Board Sends Merger Deal to Shareholders

The board of Hong Kong carrier Cable & Wireless HKT Ltd. yesterday gave its blessing to Pacific Century CyberWorks Ltd.'s (PCCW) merger bid and agreed to pass the terms on to its shareholders for approval.

Chinese Carrier Plans Six-City WAP Trial

China Mobile Communications Corp. (CMCC) is kicking off trials of a WAP (Wireless Application Protocol) service in six mainland cities, according to a report today on the Web site of the official People's Daily newspaper.

Mail.com Buys Chinese Portal, Plans World.com

Mail.com Inc., a messaging vendor that owns a portfolio of domain names including usa.com, europe.com and asia.com, today announced it will form an incubator company called World.com to build e-commerce businesses.

Sina.com Readies WAP Offerings For China

Sina.com, operator of one of China's most popular Web portals, next month will begin offering WAP (Wireless Application Protocol) services in China through a deal with communications equipment vendor Ericsson (China) Co. Ltd., officials of the two companies said today.

Hutchison Eyes Worldwide Wireless Push

Hong Kong-based conglomerate Hutchison Whampoa Ltd. this week unveiled plans to play a major role in wireless Internet and multimedia services worldwide, especially in Europe.

Hong Kong Kicks Off 3G Wireless Rule-Setting

Hong Kong's telecom regulator expects to issue four to six licenses for third-generation (3G) wireless broadband services later this year and will press carriers to adopt interoperable standards, according to a consultation paper released this week.

PCCW Stock Decline Might Threaten HKT Deal

A decline in the stock price of Hong Kong's Pacific Century CyberWorks Ltd. (PCCW) has given rise to fears that its deal to buy Cable & Wireless HKT Ltd. -- the result of a high-profile battle for a major Asian telecom carrier -- may fall through.

HK's CyberWorks Posts $44.5M Profit for 1999

Pacific Century CyberWorks Ltd. (PCCW), the Hong Kong-based Internet holding company now building a pan-Asian broadband service, yesterday posted a 1999 profit of approximately HK$346.8 million (US$44.5 million).

Asian Operators Test GPRS Roaming

Mobile phone operators in Hong Kong and Singapore have successfully tested roaming between their respective GPRS (General Packet Radio Service) networks using equipment from Nokia Corp., the Finnish mobile phone maker announced yesterday.

Shanghai Opens Software Park

Shanghai officials on Saturday opened the Pudong Software Park, a center for development of products for domestic use and export, according to an online report by the official China Daily newspaper.

Embrace Failure, CyberWorks Exec Tells Hong Kong

A top executive of Pacific Century CyberWorks Ltd. (PCCW), the high-flying Internet holding company building the Hong Kong CyberPort, said today that Hong Kong needs to change its business culture to foster innovation.

Voice Software Recognizes Multiple Languages

Researchers at the University of Hong Kong are developing voice-recognition software that can interpret multiple languages mixed in the same sentence, the head of the school's e-commerce institute said in a speech last week.

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