Report highlights the importance of digital infrastructure, skills and technology ecosystems in the modern global economy

22 NOVEMBER 2016, HONG KONG – Today the Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU) has released a global research project commissioned by Telstra showing which countries in Asia have the necessary building blocks in place to ensure business success in a connected world.

The EIU’s ‘Connecting Capabilities’ report includes the first Asian Digital Transformation Index, a quantitative ranking of 11 Asian markets, and three global comparators using 20 indicators across three key categories relevant to business performance: digital infrastructure, human capital and industry connectedness.

The report paints a mixed picture of the state of digital transformation in Hong Kong, which comes in fourth place of the overall Connecting Capabilities Index. Although Singapore, South Korea, and Japan are leading the way in Asia, Hong Kong comes in third in the development of ICT infrastructure and the availability of talent to support digital transformation.

There is, however, room for improvement in industry connectivity to stay ahead – namely companies’ digital partnerships and interaction with other organisations, networks and communities.

Darrin Webb, Telstra’s Chief Operating Officer, Global Enterprise and Services, and Managing Director, North East Asia said that overall the research showed high quality digital infrastructure, an educated and technically literate workforce and a well-functioning technology ecosystem were the building blocks of success for companies and countries alike right across Asia.

“As part of their research, the EIU has surveyed more than 850 businesses and 94 per cent said a market’s infrastructure is important to their organisation’s digital transformation, reinforcing the fact that access to high quality telecommunications and technology services is vital for business success right across the region,” said Mr Webb.

“It’s positive to see that Hong Kong is performing well when it comes to digital infrastructure and skills. Looking ahead, there needs to be a focus on developing connectivity across industries and technology ecosystems to really see the digital environment flourish. There are major growth and investment opportunities ahead for Hong Kong and its companies alike.”

Key findings of the research include:

• In Hong Kong more than six in ten executives reported that investments they have made in digital transformation initiatives have already proven their value. Nearly eight in ten said their digital transformation efforts have led their companies to change their business model in some respect.
• Digital transformation initiatives in Hong Kong have concentrated heavily on the use of social media in marketing and other areas. With attention shifting to the greater use of big data and analytics, over half (57 per cent) of respondents say their firms use analytics to a large extent, and 43 per cent say this will be the major focus of transformation efforts in the future.
• The use of cloud for storing data and accessing applications is increasing, with 42 per cent of the Hong Kong companies saying they store 75 per cent or more of their data in the cloud.
• Overall the region still has some catching up to do. While several Asian countries are performing well, a comparison with the United States, Australia and the United Kingdom shows the region as a whole is behind when it comes to digital infrastructure and human capital.

Digital Transformation Index

The EIU survey also looked at the difference between industries when it comes to their approach to digital transformation, finding that there are significant differences. Across all countries the financial services industry led the way in their commitment to digital transformation, while logistics and transportation has the lowest results for taking responsibility for digital disruption.

“The research shows companies across all major sectors are looking to digital transformation to deliver benefits like lower costs as well as new customers, products and markets. This research makes an important contribution to digging deeper into what is required to realise these goals,” said Mr Webb.

The full report and the data used to compile the Index can be found at http://connectedfuture.economist.com.

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The Connecting Capabilities report includes:

• The first Asian Digital Transformation Index, which is a quantitative ranking of 11 major Asian markets and three global comparators (the United States, Australia and the United Kingdom). The Index is comprised of 20 indicators across three categories relevant to enterprises and large organisations: digital infrastructure (including the reach and quality of telecommunications networks), human capital (including education, citizen e-participation and Internet usage) and industry connectedness (including e-commerce maturity and strength of digital partnerships).
• A survey with 870 executives in the same 14 countries across six industries – manufacturing, financial services, media, healthcare, professional services, and logistics.

About Telstra

Telstra is a leading telecommunications and technology company. We offer a full range of services and compete in all telecommunications markets in Australia, operating the largest mobile and Wi-Fi networks. Globally, we provide end-to-end solutions including managed network services, global connectivity, cloud, voice, colocation, conferencing and satellite solutions. We have licenses in Asia, Europe and the United States and offer access to more than 2,000 points of presence across the globe. For more information visit www.telstra.com.

Media contact:

16 November 2016.  The BBC’s Thai language service launched today the website – bbcthai.com – to expand on its presence in social media and further strengthen BBC’s news and current-affairs offer to Thai-speaking audience, in Thailand and around the world.

BBC Thai was created in July 2014 as a Facebook service in response to the military coup in Thailand, and is now is in the unique position of moving from being a social only offer to engaging with users directly on a BBC platform.

Via its social-media and new online presence, BBC Thai aims at attracting a digitally savvy and young audience, while continuing to be a source of impartial and independent news for a country were the media still faces restrictions.

The development is a result of the funding boost for the BBC World Service announced by the UK Government last year and is part of the World Service’s biggest expansion since the 1940s.   Along with national, regional and international politics, bbcthai.com will cover business, culture, health, technology, science and entertainment – as well as women’s issues and social affairs. It offers free content from BBC Learning English.

During the past two years BBC Thai Facebook page has generated over 1.3 million interactions a month and has 1.65 million fans (November 2016), mostly in Thailand.  BBC Thai also uses Facebook Live, Google Hangouts, YouTube and other social media to reach its audience.

BBC Thai has expanded its team in London and its Bangkok office, to enhance its ability to produce original digital content. Its newly appointed Editor, veteran Thai journalist and broadcaster Nopporn Wong-Anan, will lead the teams.  He said:

“I am excited and proud to be part of the digital transformation of BBC Thai as it has moved from being a social-only service to its own new platform, bbcthai.com. Via this new, mobile-first website we will serve Thai-speakers looking for independent, accurate and balanced news, information and analysis, for which the BBC is known. BBC Thai’s presence on the social-media scene will continue to expand.”

The service will also bring innovative formats to engage its audience and has partnered up with BBC’s task-forces that drive the organisation’s digital innovation – BBC Connected Studio and BBC News Labs. The team explored themes of participation and interaction with the local Thai creative industry in Bangkok and Chiang Mai this summer.

BBC Thai is part of BBC World Service.

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For more information, please contact:

BBC World Service Group Communications – Lala Najafova lala.najafova@bbc.co.uk

Notes to editors:

BBC Thai Editor, Nopporn Wong-Anan, has over two decades of experience in international news agencies and Thai newspapers.  Prior to his appointment to this position in London, he spent nearly four years, running the newsroom at Thailand’s largest English-language daily, the Bangkok Post, and founding the Thai-language monthly international business magazine, Forbes Thailand.  He also hosted a morning current-affairs radio show on an FM station in Bangkok.  With over 25 years of news reporting under his belt, Nopporn has worked in Bangkok, Washington and Singapore for The Wall Street Journal, Far Eastern Economic Review and Reuters.  He graduated from journalism at Thammasat University, Bangkok, and holds a Masters in International Public Policy at Johns Hopkins University’s School of Advanced International Studies, Washington DC.

BBC World Service delivers news content around the world, on radio, TV and digital, reaching a weekly audience of 246 million. As part of BBC World Service, BBC Learning English teaches English to global audiences.  The BBC attracts a weekly global news audience of 320 million people to its international news services including BBC World Service, BBC World News television channel and bbc.com/news.

HKT (SEHK:6823) – HONG KONG, November 15, 2016 – PCCW Global is delighted that our continued focus on delivering innovative and highly reliable services has been recognized yet again on an international level on two recent occasions.

These innovations are part of an ongoing programme of strategic developments which continues to demonstrate PCCW Global’s ability to deliver digital solutions globally whilst maintaining our all-important passion for service excellence.

Chosen from over 200 entries, PCCW Global won the Best Unified Communications Innovation Award at the Global Carrier Awards held on November 8 in Paris. We were recognized for innovation for the provision of an international UCaaS platform which enables full automation of all elements from “lead to cash”, affording service providers and their enterprise customers complete transparency and control over their unified communications services. These services are designed to enable service providers to extend their offerings into new markets and to build new and profitable revenue streams.

The winners were decided by a panel of more than 20 judges, which included leading analysts and industry experts, aided by a new scoring system which ensured that decisions regarding both the shortlists and the winners remained both objective and transparent.

Also, for the second consecutive year, PCCW Global has been awarded with the Best Global Wholesale Service Provider at the 2016 MEF Excellence Awards held in Baltimore, Maryland. The Awards recognize service, application, technology, and professional excellence and innovation in the global Third Network community. The MEF awards program is the largest in the world, focused on advanced Carrier Ethernet services and emerging Third Network services powered by CE2.0, LSO (Lifecycle Service Orchestration), NFV, and SDN networking technologies.

PCCW Global’s network has recently been certified to offer all CE2.0 services and has now achieved historical milestones such as being the first CE2.0 certified network to offer services across continental boundaries and to offer 100Gbps services.

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About PCCW Global

PCCW Global is the international operating division of HKT, Hong Kong’s premier telecommunications service provider, which is majority-owned by PCCW Limited. Covering more than 3,000 cities and 150 countries, the PCCW Global network supports a portfolio of integrated global communications solutions which include Ethernet, IP, fiber and satellite transmission solutions, international voice and VoIPX services, managed network & security services and our expanding “as-a-service” solutions including OTT video and Unified Communications.

cont’d …

PCCW Global is headquartered in Hong Kong, and maintains regional centres in Belgium, China, France, Greece, Japan, Korea, Singapore, South Africa, the United Arab Emirates, the United Kingdom and the United States of America. To learn more about PCCW Global, please visit www.pccwglobal.com.

About HKT

HKT (SEHK: 6823) is Hong Kong’s premier telecommunications service provider and leading operator in fixed-line, broadband and mobile communication services. It meets the needs of the Hong Kong public and local and international businesses with a wide range of services including local telephony, local data and broadband, international telecommunications, mobile, and other telecommunications businesses such as customer premises equipment sales, outsourcing, consulting, and contact centers.

HKT offers a unique quadruple-play experience in Hong Kong delivering media content on its fixed-line, broadband Internet access and mobile platforms jointly with its parent company, PCCW Limited.

HKT also provides a range of innovative and smart living services beyond connectivity to make the daily lives of customers more convenient, whether they are at home, in the workplace, or on the go.

For further information, please contact:

Ivan Ho

PCCW Group

Tel:      +852 2883 8747

Email: ivan.wy.ho@pccw.com

Issued by HKT Limited

Video erosion cuts into U.S. service provider totals

Monterey, CA (November 14, 2016) –The U.S. multichannel segment produced a drop in third quarter video customers that was slightly worse year-over-year (YOY), according to SNL Kagan, an offering of S&P Global Market Intelligence.  SNL Kagan estimates the combined cable, Direct-broadcast-satellite (DBS) and telecommunications (telco) sectors lost 430,000 video customers during the period. DBS ended in positive territory, but telco again weighed heavily on the multichannel universe. Meanwhile, the cable sector continues to show progress in mitigating losses.

For the space, the third-quarter decline brings the year-to-date drop to 1.3 million: the largest ever through the first nine months of the year.

Additional highlights from SNL Kagan’s 3rd-quarter U.S. Multichannel Subscriber report: 

• Cable operators lost 94,000 total video customers: the platform’s best third-quarter performance since 2006. For the nine months ended Sept. 30, the sector cut the 2015 decline in half. For the interval, this is the industry’s best results since 2007.
• DBS gained 46,000 subscribers, benefiting from AT&T’s strategic shift away from U-verse and towards DIRECTV. The segment now is in position to deliver gains for the year.
• The planned wind down of AT&T U-verse continues to pressure telco subscriptions, down an aggregate 382,000 in the third quarter. Year-to-date, multichannel video subscribers served by the telco segment are down nearly 1.2 million.
• Factoring in the estimated 925,000 customers for DISH Network’s Sling TV service, the trailing twelve-month multichannel decline is reduced to 822,000.

About S&P Global Market Intelligence

At S&P Global Market Intelligence, we know that not all information is important—some of it is vital. Accurate, deep and insightful. We integrate financial and industry data, research and news into tools that help track performance, generate alpha, identify investment ideas, understand competitive and industry dynamics, perform valuations and assess credit risk. Investment professionals, government agencies, corporations and universities globally can gain the intelligence essential to making business and financial decisions with conviction.

S&P Global Market Intelligence a division of S&P Global (NYSE: SPGI), provides essential intelligence for individuals, companies and governments to make decisions with confidence. For more information, visit www.spglobal.com/marketintelligence.

Copyright © 2016 by S&P Global Market Intelligence, a division of S&P Global.  All rights reserved.

Media Contact
Farhan Husain
S&P Global Market Intelligence
+1 (212) 438.3271
Farhan.Husain@spglobal.com

SINGAPORE, November 15, 2016 – HBO has renewed WESTWORLD, DIVORCE and INSECURE for second seasons, it was announced today by Casey Bloys, President, HBO Programming.

“I am thrilled to announce the pickup of our three fall series, all of which have distinctive, original voices,” said Bloys. “Critics and viewers alike have welcomed WESTWORLD and INSECURE, as well as the return of Sarah Jessica Parker to the network after 12 years with DIVORCE.”

Season-to-date, WESTWORLD is averaging a gross audience of 11.7 million viewers, outperforming “Game of Thrones” and “True Detective” during similar times in their first seasons. DIVORCE and INSECURE are averaging 4.4 million and 3.2 million viewers, respectively, on par with other HBO half-hours like “VEEP” and “Girls.”

Set at the intersection of the near future and the reimagined past, the drama series WESTWORLD is a dark odyssey about the dawn of artificial consciousness and the evolution of sin, exploring a world in which every human appetite, no matter how noble or depraved, can be indulged.

WESTWORLD kicked off its ten-episode first season on October 3 on HBO, debuting hour-long episodes same time as the U.S. every Monday at 10am (9am Thai/Jkt) with a same day primetime encore at 9pm (8pm Thai/Jkt) on HBO. The series is also available on HBO on Demand and HBO GO.

Created for television by Jonathan Nolan & Lisa Joy, both of whom executive produce and write, with Nolan directing, the series is based on the 1973 film “Westworld,” written by Michael Crichton.

The cast for the first season of WESTWORLD includes Anthony Hopkins, Ed Harris, Evan Rachel Wood, James Marsden, Thandie Newton, Jeffrey Wright, Tessa Thompson, Sidse Babett Knudsen, Jimmi Simpson, Rodrigo Santoro, Shannon Woodward, Ingrid Bolsø Berdal, Ben Barnes, Simon Quarterman, Angela Sarafyan, Luke Hemsworth and Clifton Collins, Jr.

Vanity Fair called the show “a rare kind of truly transporting television,” while People hailed it as “ingenious.” TIME said WESTWORLD is “Fall’s most promising drama,” and USA Today praised the “compelling stellar performances.”

Season one credits: WESTWORLD was created for television by Jonathan Nolan & Lisa Joy, based on the film written by Michael Crichton. Production companies, Kilter Films, Bad Robot Productions and Jerry Weintraub Productions in association with Warner Bros. Television. Executive producers, Jonathan Nolan, Lisa Joy, J.J. Abrams, Jerry Weintraub, Bryan Burk.

The comedy series DIVORCE follows Frances, who has suddenly begun to reassess her life and her strained relationship with her husband after more than a decade of marriage and two children. But she soon discovers that making a clean break and a fresh start is harder than she thought. Serving as an executive producer, Sarah Jessica Parker stars as Frances in the series, which is created by Sharon Horgan. Thomas Haden Church stars as Frances’ husband, who is struggling to cope with their marriage falling apart.

DIVORCE kicked off its ten-episode first season on October 10 on HBO, debuting half-hour episodes the same time as the U.S. every Monday at 11am (10am Thai/Jkt) with same day encore at 10pm (9pm Thai/Jkt) on HBO. The series is also available on HBO On Demand and HBO GO.

Newsweek said the show is “funny, heartening and chockful of strong performances,” while the Washington Post noted, “Sarah Jessica Parker is terrifically on point.”

Season one credits: DIVORCE was created by Sharon Horgan, with Paul Simms serving as a showrunner; executive produced by Paul Simms, Sarah Jessica Parker, Sharon Horgan, Alison Benson and Aaron Kaplan.

Created by Issa Rae and Larry Wilmore, the comedy series INSECURE explores the contemporary black female experience in an unclichéd and authentic way. Rae and Yvonne Orji stars as best friends who must deal with their own real-life flaws as they attempt to navigate different worlds and cope with an endless series of uncomfortable everyday experiences.

INSECURE launched its eight-episode first season on October 10 on HBO, debuting half-hour episodes same time as the U.S. every Monday at 11.30am (10.30am Thai/Jkt), with same day encore at 10.30pm (9.30pm Thai/Jkt) on HBO. The series is also available on HBO On Demand and HBO GO.

USA Today praised the show as “bright, cutting, funny,” and Entertainment Weekly called it “smart, funny and unfailingly real.”

Season one credits: INSECURE was created by Issa Rae and Larry Wilmore; executive produced by Issa Rae, Prentice Penny, Melina Matsoukas, Michael Rotenberg, Dave Becky and Jonathan Berry. Larry Wilmore serves as a consultant.

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About HBO ASIA

Singapore-based HBO Asia brings the best of Hollywood to Asia first through its exclusive licensing deals with major Hollywood and independent studios, including Paramount Pictures, Sony Pictures, Universal Studios, Warner Bros. and Lionsgate. HBO Asia has proprietary and award-winning HBO and HBO Asia Original programmes produced exclusively for HBO viewers. Wholly owned by HBO (a Time Warner company), HBO Asia reaches 23 territories across Asia with six 24-hour commercial-free subscription movie channels: HBO, HBO Signature, HBO Family, HBO Hits, Cinemax and Red by HBO, internet streaming platform, HBO GO, subscription video on demand service, HBO On Demand, and in China, 鼎级剧场 (ding ji ju chang). HBO Asia is also the exclusive distributor of BabyFirst and the DreamWorks channel in the region. Log on to www.hboasia.com for more information.

HBO and Home Box Office are service marks of Home Box Office, Inc. Used with permission.

For more information, please contact HBO Asia:

Karen Lai

Director, Communications

Tel: (65) 6381 1796

Email: karen.lai@hboasia.com

Chan Zi Ning

Executive, Communications

Tel: (65) 6381 1746

Email: zining.chan@hboasia.com

This e-mail is intended only for the use of the addressees. Any copying, forwarding, printing or other use of this e-mail by persons other than the addressees is not authorized. This e-mail may contain information that is privileged, confidential and exempt from disclosure. If you are not the intended recipient, please notify us immediately by return e-mail (including the original message in your reply) and then delete and discard all copies of the e-mail. Thank you.

11 November 2016.  India’s young Muslims, their views, hopes and concerns, are the subject of the new BBC Urdu series From a barber’s shop to a tea stall (Nai Ki Dukan Se Chai Ki Dukan Tak) going live on TV, radio and online on Monday 14 November.

The six-part TV and radio series and special content for the website bbcurdu.com is produced and presented by Mirza AB Baig.  As he visits New Delhi, Lucknow, Kolkata, Hyderabad, Bangalore and Mumbai, Mirza Baig talks to Muslim youths who, due to high unemployment, are used to socialising in barber shops and tea stalls in their communities.

Each episode focuses on issues that young men and women were keen to discuss with the BBC: unemployment, the divorce practice of “instant triple talaq”, terrorism, LGBT, the high number of Muslims in India’s prisons and the uniform civil code (the proposal to replace the family laws exercised by religious communities with a common set of laws governing all India’s citizens).

Mirza Baig said: “In this series, for the first time, we have placed India’s Muslim youth at the very centre of our narrative.   Talking to them, we wanted to bring to the fore their views, needs and worries.  From a barber’s shop to a tea stall is about them – and as we roll out this content, we hope that, along with BBC Urdu’s audience in Pakistan, Urdu-speakers in India will join the conversation via the BBC Urdu social media channels to continue and expand the debates we started in India’s Muslim communities.”

Indian experts join the discussion in the BBC Urdu series.  Dr Tanweer Fazal of the Department of Sociology, Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi, comments on unemployment among the country’s Muslims.  Renowned scholar, Prof Tahir Mehmood examines the issues surrounding the application of the uniform civil code.  Prof Vija Raghawan of Tata Institute of Social Sciences in Mumbai looks at the reasons for large numbers of Muslims in India’s jails. Dr Shaista Yusuf and Prof Sabiha Zubair in Bangalore explain the challenges presented by the continued practice, in some Sunni Muslim communities, of instant divorce known as “triple talaq”.

From a barber’s shop to a tea stall (Nai Ki Dukan Se Chai Ki Dukan Tak) will feature as part of the BBC Urdu programme, Sairbeen, on TV and radio every Monday starting from 14 November.   The series’ text, audio and video content will also roll out on the website bbcurdu.com.  The issues will be discussed with social-media audience via Facebook Lives on BBC Urdu Facebook.

The TV programme, Sairbeen, is broadcast live from London by Aaj News TV channel in Pakistan and streamed on bbcurdu.com at 19.30 PST (14.30 GMT) Monday to Friday.  Each edition of Sairbeen is repeated on Aaj News at 11.00 on the following day and is available on bbcurdu.com on demand. The programme is also available via the BBC Urdu channel on YouTube.  The radio programme, Sairbeen, is broadcast on shortwave at 20.00 PST (15.00 GMT) every day and is available via bbcurdu.com.

BBC Urdu is part of BBC World Service.

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For more information please contact:

BBC World Service Group Communications – Lala Najafova lala.najafova@bbc.co.uk

Notes to editors:

BBC Urdu:  Facebook Twitter YouTube Instagram 

BBC World Service delivers news content around the world, on radio, TV and digital, reaching a weekly audience of 246 million. As part of BBC World Service, BBC Learning English teaches English to global audiences.  The BBC World Service Group operates around the world in 30 languages, on radio, TV and digital. The BBC attracts a weekly global news audience of 320 million people to its international news services including BBC World Service, BBC World News television channel and bbc.com/news.