Of course, one of the principal beneficiaries of the proposed project is rising tech-tycoon Richard Li.
HKT, denied reports that it is in talks with Richard Li about entering a consortium.
Now with Richard Li's PCCW emerging as a bidder the whole game has changed.
CNN: ASIANOW - Asiaweek | Intelligence | Business: Pick up the Pieces
Even Richard Li and his Pacific Century group seem slow off the mark in the Net world.
Richard Li is anyway reducing his 49% stake in Data Access to 24%, apparently after a reassessment of investment priorities.
Citing conflict of interest, Richard Li has pledged to resign his Hutchison Whampoa directorship if the HKT takeover goes through.
This is the atmosphere Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad and Hong Kong businessman Richard Li want to replicate, in Kuala Lumpur and Hong Kong, respectively.
CNN: ASIANOW - TIME Asia | Subcontinental Drift: The Original Cybercity
Of course, its too early to tell what Richard Li will make of HKT, and what impact the deal will have for the Internet in Asia he clearly wants to control.
Richard Li needs HKT for its half-a million ISP customers, for its fiber optic cables that circle every narrow Hong Kong alley and for some of its broadband ventures, like Star TV.
CNN: ASIANOW - Asiaweek | Intelligence | Business: Pick up the Pieces
The son of tycoon Li Ka-shing, Richard Li recently snatched HKT from the grasp of Singapore Telecom, a government-linked corporation, just as it was about to close a deal for a majority stake in Hong Kong's dominant telco.
Richard's Dad, Li Ka-shing, owns Cheung Kong, which controls half of Hutchison Whampoa, which in turn owns Hutchison, Hong Kong's biggest cellular phone company.
CNN: ASIANOW - Asiaweek | Intelligence | Business: Pick up the Pieces
U.K. designers including Burberry's Christopher Bailey, Matthew Williamson, Giles Deacon and Richard Nicoll created dresses for the opening party, dressing the likes of Li Na (Deacon) and Ana Ivanovic (Williamson).
应用推荐