PRESS RELEASE

PCCW-HKT first to deploy 802.11ac Wi-Fi network in Greater China empowered by Cisco Carrier-Grade Service Provider Wi-Fi Solution

HONG KONG, June 26, 2013 – PCCW-HKT and Cisco today announced that, by using the Cisco® service provider Wi-Fi solution, PCCW-HKT has become the first service provider in the Greater China region to deploy the next-generation 802.11ac Wi-Fi network. With the 802.11ac technology, PCCW-HKT is upgrading its Wi-Fi network in Hong Kong to deliver a much faster mobile broadband performance. 

According to the latest Cisco Visual Networking Index (VNI), by 2017, Wi-Fi and mobile-connected devices will generate 68 percent of Internet traffic, and nearly half of the total IP traffic will originate from non-PC devices (including tablets and smartphones). This 802.11ac Wi-Fi network deployment plays a key role in addressing this trend. 

Mr. Peter Lam, HKT's Managing Director of Engineering, said, "As the leading Wi-Fi service provider in Hong Kong, PCCW-HKT is committed to providing the best mobile broadband experience. The deployment of the next-generation Wi-Fi technology of 802.11ac powered by 1,000 Mbps fiber backhaul will enable our customers with supporting devices to enjoy faster mobile data speed performance." 

Ms. Barbara Chiu, managing director of Cisco Hong Kong and Macau, said, "Mobile network traffic continues to grow, wireless usage is shifting indoors, and lines are blurring between business and consumer services on mobile devices. Cisco collaborates with PCCW-HKT, a market leader and long-term partner, to respond by incorporating our state-of-the-art service provider Wi-Fi solution into PCCW-HKT's world-class network infrastructure in order to support the next-generation 802.11ac technology, enabling new services to be delivered that enhance the user experience." 

Cisco is supporting PCCW-HKT to deploy its next-generation Wi-Fi services by introducing service provider Wi-Fi solutions including the Cisco Aironet® 3600 Series wireless access point, an intelligent access point that maximizes throughput and improves coverage under a wide range of conditions, together with Cisco next-generation hotspot technology, providing automatic and highly secure Internet access. 

Cisco service provider Wi-Fi solution features the industry's only carrier-grade high-performance architecture that supports service providers with a carrier-grade, end-to-end Wi-Fi infrastructure scalable enough to support exponential traffic growth from millions of users. It can deliver a transparent mobility experience for the end user with open standards, and allows service providers to harness Wi-Fi for mobile data offload and personalized mobile services with highly secure, reliable and scalable wireless connectivity. Using the 802.11ac standard, the Aironet 3600 Series is able to support up to 1.3Gbps of throughput. Based on HotSpot 2.0 (802.11u), the next-generation hotspot represents an industry-wide initiative to develop a standards-based specification for highly secure and interoperable authentication and roaming.

Mr. Sujai Hajela, vice president and general manager, Enterprise Networking Group, Cisco, said, "Cisco is a pioneer in 802.11ac technology and large-scale commercial deployments. With the Cisco service provider Wi-Fi solution based on our four pillars of technological strength, namely, Unified Architecture, Converged Core, Intelligent Access/Radio and Seamless and Secure User Experience, the new 802.11ac Wi-Fi deployment by PCCW-HKT best addresses the needs of this service provider in optimizing their network by offloading data traffic to Wi-Fi, and providing their customers with seamless and high performance wireless connectivity everywhere."

About HKT

HKT (SEHK: 6823) is Hong Kong's premier telecommunications service provider. 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 sale, outsourcing, consulting and contact centers. Together with the highly successful media business of its parent company, PCCW Limited, HKT offers innovative media content and services across the PCCW Group's unique quadruple-play platforms – fixed-line, broadband Internet access, TV and mobile.

About Cisco

Cisco (NASDAQ: CSCO) is the worldwide leader in IT that helps companies seize the opportunities of tomorrow by proving that amazing things can happen when you connect the previously unconnected. For ongoing news, please go to http://thenetwork.cisco.com. 

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