BellSouth Corp is expected to be one of the candidates competing with Hutchison Telcommunications consortium for the UKP190m Hong Kong cable TV franchise next March. According to the Hong Kong Economic Journal, the Bell company has written to the Hong Kong Government expressing an interest in the new licence although a spokesman for BellSouth would not confirm whether a formal appli cation will be made. Hot favourite is the British Telecom Inter national-Hutchison Whampoa joint venture although there are nine months to go until the deadline for tenders. A government ruling this week barred Cable and Wireless’ subsidiary, Hong Kong Tele com, which currently enjoys a monoploy over Hong Kong telecommu nications, from carrying television signals over its cables, and set out guidelines for its co-existence with the new network carrier. A second carrier has been sanctioned on the grounds of opening up competition, and will be licensed to carry cable TV and compete for facsimile and telex transmission. But the new carrier will be barred from carrying voice traffic which remains within the exclusive franchise of Hong Kong Telecom’s operating company, Hong Kong Telephone. Hong Kong Telecom will not be allowed to own more than 15% in the consortium building the competing network. The ruling has caused dismay in the Cable & Wireless camp: Cables earns 70% of its revenues from its Hong Kong activities, and is now denied the chance to increase this slice by entering the lucrative cable market. Hong Kong Telecom munications chief executive M G Gale described the decision by the Hong Kong authorities as a disappointment and the creation of a new monopoly as not only a reversal of present telecommuni cations policy, but contrary to to the direction being taken by every other advanced country. Cable & Wireless also claims that the installation of a new network infrastrucure, at an estimated cost of UKP200m, is unnecessary and will cause great public disrup tion.
