CE

O IN

TER

VIE

WS

32

行．政．總．裁．專．訪

33

電訊盈科是一間全面的通訊公司，提供林林總總的通訊服務。公司對電訊業的 未 來 發 展 有 甚 麼 看 法呢？

電訊盈科集團董事總經理艾維朗先生表示，電訊盈科及其前身服務香港已超過100年，見證了本港電訊業的發展，包括由過去的專營年代到現在的市場開放模式。行業的前景令人

樂觀，而市場競爭亦相當激烈。

艾先生認為，當香港經濟發展越來越倚重服務行業，特別是金融服務業，加強基建以滿足市場對世界級電訊服務的需求是十分重要。為此，電訊盈科一直大力投資在各種科技上，每年投入約4億美元開發不同類型的服務，目的就是希望用戶得到更佳的服務。

艾先生說，公司的策略就是要利用不同科技平台，結合多種服務去滿足用戶日益提升的先進服務需求。電訊盈科是全港首家，也是唯一一家的「四網合一」服務商，提供固網、流動通訊、寬頻互聯網及收費電視服務。不同種類的內容及應用服務可透過這四個平台傳送給客戶，使客戶無論在家中還是外出，均可因應個人喜好及時間安排，自由自在享用前所未有、簡單方便的服務。例如可通過手機、家中的電訊盈科「eye多媒睇」設備，以及寬頻互聯網入門網站now.com.hk ，享用該公司的獨家MOOV音樂服務及now寬頻電視節目。

對此，陳重義認為電訊盈科已經不單是一間電訊公司，而且是一間內容或多媒體公司。艾先生亦表示，電訊盈科目前自資製作的頻道有粵語新聞頻道及財經新聞頻道，另有八條體育頻道，但電訊盈科的業務策略其實沒有轉變，就是要瞭解用戶的不同需要，透過先進科技滿足他們的要求，因為這正是電訊盈科的核心優勢所在。

電訊是一門長遠的生意，也許你要用15至20年的時間，才能看到較佳的回報。艾先生說，這並非是個「輕易進入或退出市場」的行業。嶄新的技術或服務在推出市場之前，必須要經過實地的反覆測試，以及深入瞭解用戶的反應。例如Wi-Fi技術面世已經多年，但本地市場一直到去年才準備好迎接這項科技，於是電訊

P C C W i s a c o m p re h e n s i v e communications provider offering a wide range of services. What does the company think about the telecoms industry in the future?

Acco rd ing t o PCCW Group M a n a g i n g D i r e c t o r A l e x Arena, PCCW, together wi th its predecessor, having been around in Hong Kong for more than 100 years, has witnessed the development of the territory’s te lecoms indust r y and i ts transition from a monopoly to an open market. While this is a sector of growth and promising future, the operating environment remains highly competitive.

Mr. Arena believes that as Hong Kong’s economy becomes increasingly geared towards the service sectors (especially financial services), it is of paramount importance to strengthen the infrastructure to meet the market’s growing demand for world-class telecoms services. In this regard, PCCW has been investing heavily in technologies to serve its customers better - the company invests about US$400 million in different types of services every year.

Mr. Arena said that it was the company’s strategy to integrate different services across the range of technology platforms to meet the increasingly sophisticated demands of users. PCCW is the first and only quadruple-player in Hong Kong offering fixed-line, mobile, broadband Internet, and pay TV services. A wide diversity of content and applications are made available across the four delivery platforms, enabling customers both at home and on the move to enjoy unprecedented freedom and convenience according to their individual preferences and schedules. For instance, the exclusive MOOV music service and now TV programs are available on mobile phones, the PCCW eye multimedia device at home, and via its broadband Internet portal now.com.hk .

Dr. Hubert Chan considers that PCCW is not only a telecoms operator, but also a content or multimedia company. Mr. Arena said that while PCCW was currently producing a news channel and a business news channel in Cantonese as well as eight sports channels, the company’s business strategy had remained unchanged. This strategy, he said, was understanding users’ needs and responding to them through cutting-edge technologies, because that was where PCCW’s core strength lied.

Telecoms is a long-term business where one may expect to wait 15 to 20 years to get a fair return for capital. It was not an “easy-in, easy-out” business, said Mr. Arena, referring to the fact that new technologies and services would have to be vigorously tested in the field and user experience gauged before launch. For instance, the Wi-Fi technology has been around for many years, but the local market was not actually ready for it until last year when PCCW increased its Wi-Fi hotspots in Hong Kong from about 300 to more than 4,000, providing unparalleled coverage.

As for the challenges in the future, Mr. Arena believes that they are more likely to stem from external factors of which the company has little or no control. He cites for instance an economic slowdown where people would have less money to spend on services and would also

Mr. Alex Arena, Group Managing Director of PCCW Ltd電 訊 盈 科 集 團 董 事 總 經 理 艾 維 朗 先 生

盈科亦在去年把旗下的Wi-Fi熱點數目從約300個增加到超過4,000個，提供無可比擬的覆蓋範圍。

至於未來發展所面對的挑戰，艾先生相信，這些挑戰往往來自公司難以或無法控制的外界因素。他舉例說，假如經濟放緩，市民的消費力會減弱，對使用新服務會採取觀望態度。另外，儘管市場因服務價格下調而刺激需求增加，但是下降的趨勢會令所有營運商在考慮到投資時，感到沒有吸引力。

此外，艾先生認為另一項發展挑戰是如何令內容更加豐富、服務的「互動」性能更加強大。例如，該公司的粵語財經新聞頻道並不是普通的電視頻道，觀眾可以在收看新聞報道時查閱上市公司的即時股價，甚至進行股票買賣。他說，傳統免費電視台都很瞭解如何利用單向頻道節目吸引觀眾，但互動媒體仍有很大發展空間。對於一家歷史悠久的電訊公司（例如電訊盈科）來說，其優點就是能夠理解這種互動作用，並且累積了豐富的網絡運作經驗。

艾先生說，電訊盈科僱用16,000名員工，在香港是一家大公司，但以環球標準來說，還未能稱之為大型機構。因此，在面對香港、內地以及世界其他地方出現的商機，電訊盈科要審慎考慮如何分配資源。該公司曾參與的計劃包括香港的智能身份證及電子護照系統項目，以及多個海外項目。

艾先生曾任電訊管理局總監，當年大力推動市場開放政策，陳重義問他對現在的政策有何看法。艾先生重申維持「小政府、商業主導」的看法。艾先生認為，應由市場自由運作，政府的規管愈少愈好。他以美國AT&T為例：美國司法部當年起訴AT&T ，導致該公司於1982年最終被分拆為多間規模較小的電訊公司。現在回看起來，這場訴訟是破壞性的，而且耗費大量資金。即使不進行分拆，新技術的出現（例如有線系統、流動通訊以及互聯網的發展）也足以促進市場競爭，吸引新的參與者，毋須由政府政策來進行分拆。

然而，他對香港特區政府在長期諮詢後仍沒有把電訊及廣播政策合併，感到有點失望。他認為全球的大趨勢是將兩者融合，而政府政策應與市場發展同步並進，才符合公眾的整體利益，鞏固香港的領導地位。不過，他也認為新政策在執行前應經過深思熟慮，亦不應推出一些不必要的臨時措施。

be more cautious in adopting new ones. Another challenge is the downward trend of prices, which would make the investment case for all operators quite unattractive despite the growth in demand for services.

According to Mr. Arena, yet another challenge relates to the question of how to enrich content and enhance interactivity in services. The company’s Cantonese business news channel distinguishes itself from other ordinary channels in its capacity to allow viewers to check real-time stock prices and buy stocks via TV. While free-to-air TV stations are good at entertaining viewers with traditional linear TV channels, there is still much room for development of interactive media. An advantage of being a long-established telecoms company such as PCCW, according to Mr. Arena, is the ability to understand such interactivity and the experience of network operation.

Mr. Arena said that while PCCW, with 16,000 employees, was one of the biggest companies in Hong Kong, it was not a giant by global standards. Therefore, PCCW has to carefully weigh its options when allocating resources to address the many opportunities in Hong Kong, mainland China and other parts of the world. Projects that PCCW was engaged in included the Smart ID Card System and Electronic Passport System in Hong Kong and a number of overseas projects.

During his past tenure as Hong Kong’s first Director-General of Telecommunications, Mr. Arena had made significant effort towards implementing open-up policies. When asked by Hubert to comment on the current policies, Mr. Arena reiterated his preference for a “small government, business-driven” approach. Mr. Arena believes that the market should be allowed to operate freely, and that the less regulation of it the better. He considers the US Department of Justice’s action against AT&T, which resulted in the split-up of the company into several entities in 1982, both destructive and wasteful. He believes that even without the spin-off, new emerging technologies such as cable systems, mobile access and the Internet would be sufficient to stimulate competition and absorb new entrants.

Mr. Arena is somewhat disappointed that the HKSAR government has yet to merge the telecoms and broadcasting policies despite long consultations and the global trend of convergence. He said government policies had to keep in pace with market development for the overall benefit of the public and for the purpose of strengthening Hong Kong’s leadership. Nevertheless, he added that any new policies should be thoroughly examined before implementation, and it would also not be desirable to introduce unnecessary provisional measures.