HKT Trust and HKT (6823) said its data roaming service has significantly improved after the border reopening, back to 50 percent for inbound and 60 percent for outbound compared with the pre-pandemic levels.
At the telecom giant's annual general meeting yesterday, chairman Richard Li Tzar-kai also said he expects NowTV's market share in pay TV in Hong Kong will continue to rise, as some competitors have quit and mainland tourists are coming back.
He also said that NowTV has become a core business of HKT and will not be sold.
NowTV is currently the only pay TV channel in Hong Kong after i-Cable Communications (1097) returned its license earlier this year.
When asked about whether HKT will further expand its businesses in the Greater Bay Area, Li said HKT can only provide some non-core services, as the mainland telecom market is dominated by the three state-owned giants.
HKT now offers digitalization solutions for the mainland subsidiaries of Hong Kong companies. Li said this service has a good start but accounts for a small part of total revenue.
The AGM of its parent company PCCW (0008) followed. Chairman Li assured the shareholder that all board members agreed to maintain a stable and continuous dividend distribution policy, though he could not predict future payouts.
Meanwhile, Li said the company has invested in many artificial intelligence projects in the United States, but can't have seats on their boards due to the Sino-US tech war.
Li added that PCCW has used AI to provide support to enterprises, though has no plans to use it for retail customers.
