NEW YORK-Hongkong Telecommunications Ltd. reported a 9.3 percent increase in operating revenues for the first half of its fiscal year, attributing the rise partly to strong growth in its wireless services.
Operating income increased to Hong Kong $15.92 billion for the six-month period, which ended Sept. 30. Although exchange rates vary, Hongkong Telecom used a ratio of 7 Hong Kong dollars to 1 U.S. dollar in its earnings report.
Wireless telecommunications are included in the “other business services” category on the company’s balance sheet. Hongkong Telecom’s operating revenues in this line item increased by 37.6 percent to U.S. $486.3 million.
For competitive reasons, the company doesn’t break out the individual services included in this category, said Thomas E. McDonnell, vice president of investor relations.
Hongkong Telecom CSL’s range of mobile voice and message services contributed to strong revenue growth in the first half, with the number of customers increasing to 320,000 (from 270,000 in the prior six months), the company reported. “Hongkong Telecom CSL is targeting a capacity of 600,000 customers on its advanced network through continuous investment in spectrum utilization technologies and adoption of flexible service and pricing packages, which are key attributes to this success.”
The company characterized itself as the world leader “in terms of GSM (Global System for Mobile communications) spectrum utilization.”
It attributes its status to its ongoing efforts to add capacity while also adding and maintaining the quality of services.
On the wireless side, the company will debut its MobileOne joint venture in December in Singapore when it offers mobile telephone service to the World Trade Organization ministers’ meeting there, said Linus W.L. Cheung, chief executive of Hongkong Telecom.
Full commercial operation of MobileOne in Singapore will begin in April, he added.
In Taiwan, Cheung explained that the telecom company is “waiting with our Taiwan partners for the result of our bids for a GSM and a PCS (personal communications services) license in Taiwan, which will be announced by the end of this year.”
Glenayre claims suit has no merit
CHARLOTTE, N.C.-Glenayre Technologies Inc. said a class action lawsuit recently filed against the company in New York has no merit.
“This law firm has a history of preying on technology companies for its own personal gain and we intend to vigorously defend ourselves against them,” said Gary Smith, Glenayre president and chief operating officer.
The lawsuit charges Glenayre and its executive officers and directors with misrepresenting the finances of the company, claiming there was a “firm backlog” of product orders.
The plaintiff’s attorneys said the firm backlog “was not firm but was instead highly infirm and subject to numerous contingencies and, in truth, the company’s orders were susceptible to cancellations and delays, which undermined any claims of firmness,” the attorneys said in a release.
The lawsuit was filed Nov. 1 in U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York by the firms of Milberg, Weiss, Bershad, Hynes & Lerach L.L.P.; Savett, Frutkin, Podell & Ryan PC; Bernstein, Liebhard & Lifshitz; and Bernard M. Gross.
The class includes people who acquired Glenayre stock between Jan. 4 and Sept. 13.
Nextel’s petition is denied by WTB
WASHINGTON-The Federal Communications Commission’s Wireless Telecommunications Bureau and the Office of Engineering and Technology denied Nextel Communications Inc.’s Oct. 6, 1994, pioneer’s-preference petition regarding the carrier’s 800 MHz specialized mobile radio license in the New York metropolitan trading area.
In the Nov. 5 order, the two FCC bureaus dismissed the petition based on the following criteria: Nextel waited 16 months after the release of a commission notice of proposed rulemaking that established rules for wide-area applications to submit its petition; that the petition was not based on a new service or technology, but rather on changes in the regulatory and statutory environment; that Nextel did not receive its spectrum via an auction; and that Nextel would not experience any lack of “economic reward” if it did not receive such a preference.
