HKNet-Teligent Co. Ltd. Wednesday said that it was awarded a marketwide fixed wireless license by the Office of the Telecommunications Authority (OFTA) to provide high bandwidth voice and data services to Hong Kong customers.
HKNet-Teligent is a joint venture between HK-based ISP HKNet Co Ltd, U.S.-based Teligent, Inc. and telco CCT Telecom Holdings Ltd.
With the Wireless Fixed Telecommunications Network Service (WFTNS) license, HKNet-Teligent intends to launch high bandwidth telecommunications services in Hong Kong using its SmartWave point-to-multipoint (PMP) technology.
The firm plans to cover more than 90 percent of commercial and residential areas in Hong Kong within three years of operation.
PMP technology supports sophisticated broadband applications, including video, “Net-meeting” connections, Web browsing, and e-mail and file transmissions, at throughput speeds of up to 5 Mbps — 80 times faster than traditional dial-up connections. HKNet-Teligent successfully installed and tested a SmartWave network on the campus of The Chinese University of Hong Kong in December.
Fixed wireless and PMP networks are thought to be particularly well suited to serve the ever-increasing demand for broadband communications services for growing business and residential customers in high-rise environments such as Hong Kong.
CCT Telecom chairman Clement Mak said that fixed wireless networks can be built more quickly, at a lower cost, and with greater capacity than traditional copper wire networks. “Fixed wireless networks will set the trend for communications in the future,” claims Mak.
Mak added that his firm was exploring cooperation opportunities like CCT Telecom’s recent partnership with Sino Land to provide, install and maintain broadband infrastructure in Sino buildings.
Teligent International president Richard J. Hanna said that his firm’s successful launch of SmartWave networks across 40 major US markets in 14 months proved that Teligent can “deliver the broadband communications muscle demanded in the Hong Kong marketplace”.
“The cooperation between HKNet, with its strong telecommunications backbone infrastructure, and Teligent, with its expertise, experience and advanced technological know-how in the operation of fixed wireless networks, provides strong synergy for the rollout of our broadband networks in Hong Kong,” said HKNet deputy managing director Charles Mok.