Reborn since 1993

Chapter 1404 Learn from the barbarians and learn skills to control the barbarians

The size of the port city and its user base are what they are; that's a fact that can't be changed.

Even with its backing by the mainland, Cyberport's subsidiaries, such as Port City Telecom and Peregrine, do have a real chance of entering the mainland market and gaining market share from the mainland's telecommunications, banking, and insurance industries.

However, Li Dongling doesn't really expect to become a local power like the three major telecommunications giants, the four major inland banks, or the major insurance giants.

To put it simply, can Gangcheng Telecom, like the three major telecommunications giants, deploy base stations to remote mountain valleys or even uninhabited areas? Don't even think about it; it's simply impossible.

Hong Kong City Telecom is not one of the three major telecommunications giants, so it has the opportunity to occupy some market share in the mainland, but Li Dashan never expected to challenge those three telecommunications giants.

Among the three major mainland companies, Hong Kong City Telecom is not to be trifled with, but that doesn't mean it can't pick on the weak!
When Hong Kong Telecom reaches Southeast Asia, such as Siam and Malaysia, wouldn't it be able to easily defeat Beihai Kindergarten and Maonanshan Nursing Home?
A tree dies when transplanted, but a person thrives. Right now, telecommunications giants, including those in mainland China, Japan, and other regions, are busy laying base stations and fiber optic networks in their own territories and have no time to expand overseas. This is precisely the opportunity, or rather, the mission, for Hong Kong City Telecom!
At this time, it is the best choice for Hong Kong City Telecom to expand into Southeast Asia. Its main competitors are probably PCCW, which is also a competitor of Hong Kong City, as well as Singapore Telecom and South Korean Telecom!
If Hong Kong City Telecom can defeat these companies, it has a chance to dominate the Southeast Asian telecommunications market!
In their previous lives, the three major mainland telecom operators suffered the consequences of being late to the overseas market, paying a hefty price in tuition fees and facing numerous difficulties overseas.

For Hong Kong City Telecom, this is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. If they cannot suppress competitors such as Singapore Telecom and dominate the Southeast Asian telecommunications market in the next three to five years, they will probably never have such an opportunity again.

The biggest source of confidence for Hong Kong City Telecom is that it has a base of markets in Hong Kong and the mainland, plus Cyberport can raise funds for it!
So, isn't having money an advantage?!
Do you really think that Cyberport's stock price and market capitalization are just a string of numbers? They can still be cashed out, and there are countless ways to do so. The most direct way, of course, is to beg for donations from "resourceful people," such as companies like Japan Telephone and Telegraph Corporation...

"Going forward, this is very important for Cyberport, as are Hong Kong City Telecom and Peregrine!"

Li Dongling looked at the group of people in charge of Dongke in Gangcheng and said.

Dongke Port City is some distance from the Pingyang headquarters, and the Pingyang headquarters can't keep an eye on the Dongke Port City headquarters all the time. Ultimately, it depends on Lin Xianhui, Liang Botao, Zhang Yonglin and others to do the work.

"Hong Kong City Telecom's revenue is expected to exceed HK$35 billion this year!"

As the head of Harbour City Telecom, Zhang Yonglin spoke first, saying that after being acquired by Cyberport, Harbour City Telecom retained its exclusive fixed-line and bandwidth licenses in Harbour City.

The exclusive licenses for landline and broadband services in the entire port city remain in the hands of Hong Kong City Telecom, and Hong Kong City remains Hong Kong City Telecom's core business.

"In addition, Hong Kong City Telecom is developing rapidly in Guangdong Province. Hong Kong City Telecom plans to launch the Guangdong-Hainan Telecom service in Hong Kong and Guangdong Province in conjunction with mainland China Telecom."

The goal is to provide cross-regional data leased lines and international roaming services to mid-to-high-end users in Guangdong Province and Hong Kong who have such needs.

When talking about the development of Gangcheng in the mainland, Zhang Yonglin's eyes lit up. Back then, after Dongke acquired Gangcheng Telecom, it obtained the trial operation qualification to enter the Guangdong telecommunications market, mainly to provide broadband services.

"Currently, Gangcheng Telecom's main business in Guangdong Province is providing mobile phone services and ISP services to companies, internet cafes, and households in Guangdong Province."

It is projected that this year, Gangcheng Telecom's revenue in Guangdong Province will reach approximately one-tenth of its total revenue!

It was only after entering the inland telecommunications market that Zhang Yonglin fully understood why so many international telecommunications giants were so eager to enter the inland market.

The huge user market in the mainland is so tempting that Hong Kong City Telecom has experienced explosive growth in users and revenue since entering Guangdong Province.

If Gangcheng Telecom could expand into more inland provinces, Zhang Yonglin couldn't imagine how high its revenue could reach!
Li Dongling simply listened to Zhang Yonglin's words, ate a bite of roasted meat, and sipped his drink, without saying a word.

Lin Xianhui had followed Li Dashanren for so long and understood Li Dongling's temperament. Seeing Li Dongling remain silent, he knew that Li Dashanren seemed to have some other intentions regarding Hong Kong Telecom's behavior.

Zhang Yonglin also noticed something amiss, but it only gave him a bigger headache. After all, wasn't Hong Kong City Telecom's performance outstanding enough? If it were any other Hong Kong City boss, they would probably be ecstatic!

"Does Hong Kong City Telecom's business in Guangdong Province rely on the base stations and lines of mainland China Telecom?"

After finishing a skewer of grilled meat, Li Dongling asked Zhang Yonglin.

Zhang Yonglin was clearly taken aback. He hadn't expected Li Dongling to bring this up. He then said, "Yes, but Hong Kong Telecom also paid a rental fee to Mainland Telecom!"

Hong Kong City Telecom did not invest in laying base stations and fiber optic lines in mainland China; instead, it leased them directly from China Telecom, since China Telecom is also a shareholder of Hong Kong City Telecom.

Previously, when Tungling High-Tech acquired Cyberport, it was the Ministry of Posts and Telecommunications that first proposed the idea to Tungling High-Tech, and China Telecom also invested money. Without the support of the Ministry of Posts and Telecommunications and China Telecom, how could Tungling High-Tech have endorsed Cyberport and borrowed US$10.1 billion from a Chinese-funded banking syndicate in Cyberport? To this day, China Telecom still holds about 11% of Cyberport's shares and is a member of Cyberport's board of directors.

Therefore, since Hong Kong City Telecom and Mainland Telecom are essentially on the same side, it's perfectly reasonable for them to use Mainland Telecom's base station signal towers and lines in Guangdong Province.

It's important to know that it's not just Hong Kong City Telecom that's using it. Currently, hundreds of ISPs of all sizes in China, including Century Internet, 263, 2911, Yinghaiwei, and Oriental Netscape, are leasing lines. This is just the beginning, and in the future, the number of ISP companies could reach thousands.

These companies lease data lines from mainland China's China Telecom and China Unicom, and then resell them to make a profit. At this time, mainland China Telecom was constrained by various regulations, and by relying on these middlemen, it was able to revitalize its bandwidth business, directly wholesaling bandwidth to various middlemen and letting them help mainland China Telecom expand its territory.

With so many ISP providers, plus the competition among local telecom and Unicom companies, price wars are inevitable.

Under these circumstances, internet cafes are the biggest beneficiaries. The price has dropped from ten yuan per hour to five yuan per hour. Now, in Guangdong Province, the price of internet access per hour has fallen below three yuan. It is estimated that before long, the golden age of ten yuan for overnight internet access will officially arrive, and the golden age of the mainland internet will also come. A huge group of night owls will also be born!

In Guangdong Province, Hong Kong City Telecom is the largest ISP, making a fortune by earning installation fees and internet access fees.

"The limited bandwidth of dial-up internet is destined to be replaced by ADSL broadband, as you probably already know!"

Li Dongling looked at Zhang Yonglin and said, "The latter paused for a moment, then nodded. Hong Kong Telecom is currently based in Hong Kong and has four ADSL bandwidth lines. Compared to dial-up internet, the latter is much faster, although of course it's more expensive..."

Inland areas are also undergoing this change. However, compared to the port city, the inland area is much larger. Although the deployment speed is already quite fast, it is still relatively slow compared to the overall speed of bandwidth rollout in the country.

"What if, in the future, mainland telecom companies are no longer willing to lease bandwidth lines to ISP companies? What will become of Hong Kong Telecom then?" Li Dongling asked Zhang Yonglin.

Zhang Yonglin frowned noticeably. He felt it was unlikely, but how could such a thing be explained?

If China Telecom and China Unicom in mainland China stop leasing fiber optic lines to ISPs or raise leasing prices, what can the various ISPs do?
After all, the lines, data centers, and servers were all laid out at great expense by China Telecom. If it doesn't lease them and operates them itself, what can other ISPs do?
As for Hong Kong City Telecom, no matter how good its relationship with mainland China Telecom is, it won't be kicked out. But when Hong Kong City Telecom's user base grows to the point of competing with mainland China Telecom, even if mainland China Telecom doesn't want to take action, it will have to.

Mainland Telecom is a behemoth, and there isn't just one voice within it. There are people who are closely related to Hong Kong City Telecom, and there are people who don't like Hong Kong City Telecom. This distinction must be made.

"What does Mr. Li mean?" Zhang Yonglin looked up at Li the Great Philanthropist and asked.

"Be prepared for both possibilities!"

"In the mainland market, while maintaining our partnership with China Telecom, we can try to jointly invest in ASDL broadband lines with them, even if it's just a small stake, to ensure that Hong Kong City Telecom won't be completely eliminated in the future!"

“The second way,” Li the philanthropist looked at Zhang Yonglin, “is to go to sea!”

"Backed by the port city and the mainland market, Hong Kong City Telecom has begun to go overseas to seize the telecommunications market in Southeast Asia!"

"Going to Southeast Asia?"

Zhang Yonglin couldn't help but say in surprise that he understood the unspoken meaning behind Li Dashan's words: this was to encourage Hong Kong Telecom to start a buying spree in Southeast Asia, just like what overseas telecom giants were doing!
"Can……"

Zhang Yonglin stammered for a moment, and was also a little worried. Even though Hong Kong City Telecom was considered a telecommunications giant in Southeast Asia, he knew that Hong Kong City Telecom was still quite far from being a true telecommunications giant.

"But this requires a lot of funding, and Hong Kong Telecom is probably..."

Li Dongling interrupted him directly, "Hong Kong City Telecom is a subsidiary of Cyberport, so the funding will naturally be provided by Cyberport!"

Learn from the barbarians to control the barbarians. Why can those overseas telecom giants keep buying and buying, but Cyberport and Hong Kong City Telecom can't?

It's just stepping on your right foot with your left and spiraling upwards in place, acting like nobody knows this amazing skill.

With all these fancy moves by Cyberport, such as the Cyberport Future Industry Fund, surely they can still raise Cyberport's share price and cash out?

(End of this chapter)