NTT Communications will invest HK$98 million ($19.4 million) to take a 49 per cent stake in HKNet Co, a leading Hong Kong ISP (Internet service provider), NTT Communications said yesterday.
The two companies will launch Internet Protocol-based services in Hong Kong later this year. Tokyo-based NTT Communications will assign two directors to HKNet, company officials said.
The deal, which will see NTT Communications buying the stake in the Hong Kong ISP from CCT Telecom Holdings, HKNet's parent company, is part of a wider push by the Japanese carrier into promising overseas markets.
Officially set up in July of this year, NTT Communications is the international unit of Japan's largest telecomms operator Nippon Telegraph & Telephone Corp (NTT).
The company has been rapidly establishing partnerships in Asia and beyond in preparation for the worldwide launch of its services in October.
Last month, NTT Communications took a stake in Philippines Long Distance Telephone Co (PLDT).