Hong Kong Telecommunications Limited, Hong Kong Telecom (HKT) (Traditional Chinese: 香港電訊有限公司) (Former stock code: ), or Cable & Wireless HKT Limited later, was the largest telecommunications service provider in Hong Kong

Hong Kong

Hong Kong is one of two Special Administrative Regions of the People's Republic of China , the other being Macau. A city-state situated on China's south coast and enclosed by the Pearl River Delta and South China Sea, it is renowned for its expansive skyline and deep natural harbour...

. It was parented

Parent company

A parent company is a company that owns enough voting stock in another firm to control management and operations by influencing or electing its board of directors; the second company being deemed as a subsidiary of the parent company...

 by Cable & Wireless

Cable & Wireless

Cable & Wireless Worldwide PLC is a global telecommunications company headquartered in Bracknell, United Kingdom. Cable & Wireless specialises in providing communication networks and services to large corporates, governments, carrier customers and resellers...

. It had a dominant position in fixed-line, IDD and broadband

Broadband

The term broadband refers to a telecommunications signal or device of greater bandwidth, in some sense, than another standard or usual signal or device . Different criteria for "broad" have been applied in different contexts and at different times...

 services in Hong Kong. It was merged to Pacific Century Cyberworks (PCCW) in 2000. The name 'Hong Kong Telecommunications (HKT) Limited' is retained by a subsidiary of PCCW.

History

• 1988: Hong Kong Telecommunications Limited was formed by merger of Hong Kong Telephone Company Limited (HKTC) and Cable and Wireless (Hong Kong) Limited. It replaced HKTC to be listed on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange
  Hong Kong Stock Exchange
  The Hong Kong Stock Exchange is a stock exchange located in Hong Kong. It is Asia's third largest stock exchange in terms of market capitalization behind the Tokyo Stock Exchange and the Shanghai Stock Exchange and fifth largest in the world...
  
   and the member of Hang Seng Index
  Hang Seng Index
  The Hang Seng Index is a freefloat-adjusted market capitalization-weighted stock market index in Hong Kong. It is used to record and monitor daily changes of the largest companies of the Hong Kong stock market and is the main indicator of the overall market performance in Hong Kong...
  
   Constituent Stocks (blue-chip).
• 1990: Hong Kong Telecommunications Limited was restructured to four wholly owned operating companies: Hong Kong Telephone Company Limited (HKTC), Hong Kong Telecom International Limited (formerly Cable and Wireless (Hong Kong) Limited), Hong Kong Telecom CSL Limited and Computasia Limited.
• 1995: Hong Kong Telecom's franchise expired. New companies were allowed to provide local fixed telecommunication services on a competitive basis.
• 1999: Hong Kong Telecom was renamed to Cable & Wireless HKT.
• 2000: Hong Kong Telecom was acquired by and merged to Pacific Century Cyberworks. It was renamed to PCCW-HKT Limited.

HKT Acquisition in 2000

Initially, HKT owner Cable & Wireless entertained a bid

Takeover

In business, a takeover is the purchase of one company by another . In the UK, the term refers to the acquisition of a public company whose shares are listed on a stock exchange, in contrast to the acquisition of a private company.- Friendly takeovers :Before a bidder makes an offer for another...

 from Singapore Telecom, chaired by Lee Hsien Yang

Lee Hsien Yang

Lee Hsien Yang is the second son of Singapore's first Prime Minister, Lee Kuan Yew. He is currently the Non-Executive Director and Chairman of Fraser and Neave Limited and chairman of Civil Aviation Authority of Singapore ....

, son of Singapore

Singapore

Singapore , officially the Republic of Singapore, is a Southeast Asian city-state off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, north of the equator. An island country made up of 63 islands, it is separated from Malaysia by the Straits of Johor to its north and from Indonesia's Riau Islands by the...

's former premier Lee Kuan Yew

Lee Kuan Yew

Lee Kuan Yew, GCMG, CH is a Singaporean statesman. He was the first Prime Minister of the Republic of Singapore, governing for three decades...

. But Central Government

Central government

A central government also known as a national government, union government and in federal states, the federal government, is the government at the level of the nation-state. The structure of central governments varies from institution to institution...

 of the People's Republic of China

People's Republic of China

China , officially the People's Republic of China , is the most populous country in the world, with over 1.3 billion citizens. Located in East Asia, the country covers approximately 9.6 million square kilometres...

 was worried about Hong Kong's telecom system would fall into foreigner

Alien (law)

In law, an alien is a person in a country who is not a citizen of that country.-Categorization:Types of "alien" persons are:*An alien who is legally permitted to remain in a country which is foreign to him or her. On specified terms, this kind of alien may be called a legal alien of that country...

's hand. With the support of the loan

Loan

A loan is a type of debt. Like all debt instruments, a loan entails the redistribution of financial assets over time, between the lender and the borrower....

 from Hong Kong and Shanghai Banking Corporation and Bank of China (Hong Kong)

Bank of China (Hong Kong)

Bank of China Limited is the second-largest commercial banking group in Hong Kong in terms of assets and customer deposits, with more than 300 branches in Hong Kong. It was established on 1 October 2001 from a merger of 12 subsidiaries and associates of the Bank of China in Hong Kong, and listed...

, PCCW, chaired by Richard Li

Richard Li

Richard Li Tzar Kai is the younger son of successful entrepreneur Li Ka-Shing and brother of Victor Li.Li was 26th in the Forbes List of Hong Kong’s 40 Richest people for 2010...

, the younger son of tycoon Li Ka-shing, entered the scene and managed to outbid the Singaporean rival. But this brought PCCW to take high debt

Debt

A debt is an obligation owed by one party to a second party, the creditor; usually this refers to assets granted by the creditor to the debtor, but the term can also be used metaphorically to cover moral obligations and other interactions not based on economic value.A debt is created when a...

 and sell assets to return the debt. Finally, PCCW's stock price dropped more than 98% after Internet bubble bursted.