Page 23 - Sphere No.12 (Aug 2004)

When HGC first began life in 1995, the communications
world was a very different place. The Internet was just begin-
ning to make an impact in Asia and few were convinced of the
powerful benefits it could bring. For HGC, these were minor
hurdles, and the company instead recognised the formidable
advantages of high-speed fibre optic connectivity. Another big
advantage was Hong Kong’s topography. Many tall buildings
packed into a small space afforded a perfect environment to
roll out a network.
By opting to build a new network from scratch, HGC raised
the standards to a whole new level. While much of the rest
of Asia was still struggling with
painfully slow dial-up services,
Hong Kong began to harness the
full power of Internet technology
through broadband.
Importantly, rather than relying on
the older variety of copper or coaxial
cables, HGC deployed a full fibre
optic network. The work was time
consuming and labour intensive,
requiring roads to be dug up so that
the cable could be laid.
“For the first few years, we were
more like a construction company
than a telecommunications company,”
Wong recalls.
In nine short years, the company
has proved that a little foresight (and
substantial investment) can go a
longway. By June 2002, the fibre optic
backbone was finished. Today, the company has rolled out
a 4,000-kilometre ring across the territory comprising more
than 700,000 kilometres of core fibre optic cable. Currently,
some 4,000 buildings are linked direcly to the network.
Backbone for Business
Today, the vast majority of Hong Kong’s Internet subscribers
use some form of broadband. By bucking the trend and invest-
ing in its own fibre optic network, HGC ensures networking
speeds that verge on the futuristic. With the dedicated 10Mbps
symmetrical broadband connections it provides, customers get
SPHERE 21