PCCW

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PCCW Ltd.
Type Public (SEHK: 0008)
Founded 1994
Headquarters Hong Kong
Key people Richard Li, Chairman
Industry Telecommunications
Products Cable, Internet, Telephony, Mobile Telephony
Employees 14,108 (2006)
Website www.pccw.com/eng

PCCW Limited (PCCW, traditional Chinese: 電訊盈科) is the largest [1] telecommunication enterprise in Hong Kong. PCCW has been listed on Hong Kong Stock Exchange SEHK: 0008,since 18 October 1994.

Contents

[edit] Main business

PCCW Shop in Tsim Sha Tsui, Hong Kong.
PCCW Shop in Tsim Sha Tsui, Hong Kong.

Products and services offered by PCCW include[2]:

  • Telecommunications services
    • Landline telecommunications
    • Mobile telecommunications - PCCW Mobile
    • Broadband internet - Netvigator, Netvigator Everywhere, PCCW Wi-Fi
  • Television and Media Content
  • IT Services and BPO - PCCW Solutions, formerly Unihub, formerly PCCW Business eSolutions
  • Infrastructure - Cascade, Ltd.[3]

[edit] History

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PCCW was formed by Richard Li Tzar Kai, 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 bids.[citation needed] Many in Hong Kong cried cronyism,[citation needed] as Hong Kong chief executive Tung Chee Hwa gave away the land to his new high-tech residential and commercial venture called Cyberport.[citation needed]

PCCW acquired Hong Kong Telecom (HKT) in August 2000, which was formerly known as the Hong Kong Telephone Company (founded in 1925).[citation needed] Initially, HKT owner Cable & Wireless entertained a bid from Singapore Telecommunications, but there was local concern about a Singapore company owning the largest Hong Kong telephone system.[citation needed] PCCW entered the scene and offered Cable and Wireless PCCW stock and US$11 billion in bank loans.[citation needed]

The acquisition vaulted PCCW from a small 1990s dot-com holdings company to one of the largest corporations in Hong Kong. PCCW is now also the leading Internet service provider in Hong Kong,[citation needed] using the Netvigator brand for dialup modem and DSL service.

PCCW has been the object of much scorn in Hong Kong as a result of the HKT purchase.[citation needed] In 2003 the company's stock price was down 96 percent from its 2000 peak.[citation needed] 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), PCCW was the worst-performing blue chip on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange (HKSE) in 2002 and 2003.[citation needed]

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.[citation needed]

Richard Li gave up his spot as PCCW's chief executive officer in July 2003 but remained as chairman and executive director. Jack So, 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.

PCCW chairman Richard Li 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 for 323 million euros.[citation needed]

Effective 10 June 2008, PCCW's stock is no longer a constituent the Hang Seng Index (HSI).[4] PCCW had joined the index on 9 August 2000.[5]

[edit] Purported Cable & Wireless takeover bid

News report from the Sunday Times 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.[6]

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 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.[7]

[edit] Cascade, Ltd.

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.[3]

[edit] PCCW Solutions (Unihub, Business eSolutions)

PCCW Solutions is the information technology services and business process outsourcing (BPO) division of PCCW. Press releases prior to February 2006 refer to it by the name Unihub.[8]. Unihib was a re-branding of PCCW's Business eSolutions division, from 1 September 2003.[9]

Business eSolutions division formed a venture with China Telecom to provide IT solutions to major business organizations in 2002. This was in addition to PCCW's PCITC alliance with Sinopec, formed to serve Sinopec plus other players in China's petrochemical sector. The division also contributed to the new Hong Kong Identity Card system in 2003.[8]

In early 2003, Business eSolutions entered a contract to provide services for Bank of China's credit-card back office processing system in China.[citation needed] It also extended a 2002 enterprise resource planning (ERP) project into more provinces for China Mobile and completed the flight information display system (FIDS) for Xiamen Airport, and a human resource management and financial management system for the Hong Kong Council of Social Service.[citation needed]

[edit] 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.[10]

The foundation also supports the Workplace English Campaign and other education-related initiatives, such as annual scholarships for top students nominated by local universities.

[edit] Community service

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.[10]

[edit] Incident with YouTube

On 24 February 2008, PCCW was blamed for blocking users around the world from accessing the video sharing website YouTube. While attempting to block internet users in Pakistan, following orders from the Pakistani Government, PCCW accidentally blocked all of their users from the website. The blockage spread worldwide via incorrect BGP routing tables published by PCCW, coming originally from PieNet in Pakistan.[11][12]

[edit] Operations

PCCW's businesses have a presence in the following countries and territories[13]:

[edit] See also

[edit] References

  1. ^ About Us/Company Profile. PCCW (2008). Retrieved on 2008-03-18.
  2. ^ Products and Services. PCCW (2008). Retrieved on 2008-03-18.
  3. ^ a b Cascade Limited: About Us. Cascade (2003). Retrieved on 2008-03-18.
  4. ^ Hang Seng Indexes (2008-05-09). "Hang Seng Indexes Announces Index Review Results" (PDF). Press release. Retrieved on 2008-05-09.
  5. ^ Changes in HSI Constituent Stocks (Excel/XLS). Hang Seng Indexes. Retrieved on 2008-05-09.
  6. ^ "Hong Kong tech firm mulls C&W bid", BBC News, 2003-02-10. Retrieved on 2008-03-18. 
  7. ^ "Cable & Wireless shuns PCCW", The Asian World Street Journal, 2003-02-10. Retrieved on 2008-03-18. 
  8. ^ a b PCCW Solutions. "News & Events". Press release. Retrieved on 2008-04-13.
  9. ^ PCCW Solutions (2003-11-17). "PCCW attains BS 7799". Press release. Retrieved on 2008-04-13.
  10. ^ a b About Us/Community and Environment. PCCW (2008). Retrieved on 2008-03-18.
  11. ^ "YouTube outage blamed on Pakistan", BBC News, 2008-02-24. Retrieved on 2008-02-25. 
  12. ^ Stiennon, Richard (2008-02-24). Pakistan removed from the Internet. Threat Chaos. ZDNet. Retrieved on 2008-02-25.
  13. ^ About Us/PCCW around the world. PCCW (2008). Retrieved on 2008-03-18.

[edit] External links