HKISPA Holds Annual General Meeting and Election of Officers

The Annual General Meeting of the Hong Kong Internet Service Providers Association (HKISPA) was held today, with the re-election of new officers for the Executive Committee.

Mr. Charles Mok, the newly-elected Chairman of HKISPA, also the General Manager of HKNet Co Ltd, said, "In the two years since the original formation of the HKISPA, our industry has matured significantly and we now play a critical role in the development of Hong Kong's information infrastructure.  We intend to continue to work to support Hong Kong's development as an Internet content and traffic hub, along with the government, the IT industry and the users."

In the past two year, the Association represented the industry in important issues like the deregulation of the telecommunications industry, content control, technical infrastructure and standards development.  A code of practice was set up for members to comply with in order to commit to service quality and handle abuses, including objectionable and illegal content.

In order to better serve the Internet industry locally and embrace the convergence trend, the Association will expand its membership eligibility to include PNETS (public non-exclusive telecommunications service) licensees engaged in Internet-based services for ISR (international simple resale), Internet fax, etc.  In addition, other Internet companies not holding a PNETS license - for example wed design firms, content providers, etc. - may also join HKISPA as Associate Members.

In the coming year, the Association will continue to work on enhancing the level of penetration of Internet applications in Hong Kong, including promoting electronic commerce and privacy online.  Moreover, he Association will apply for Government support to jumpstart the establishment of a Computer Emergency Response Team (CERT) in Hong Kong, in order to foster better network security across Hong Kong's information infrastructure, in association with the Hong Kong Productivity Council.

The Association will also act as the lead sponsoring organization to bid for the hosting of the INET conference, the annual convention of the Internet Society, the largest  Internet professional association in the world, in the year 2000.

The Meeting also reaffirms the Association's stand on fair market competition, and reiterates the opposition by the members of the Association to the proposed acquisition of the Internet business of Hong Kong Star Internet Limited by Hongkong Telecom IMS.

The Meeting also passed a resolution to thank the outgoing Executive Council, and in particular, the past and founding chairman of the Association, Mr Daniel Ng, President of Hong Kong Star Internet Limited, for his contribution and dedication in the past two years in establishing the Association as one of the premier information technology organizations in Hong Kong.

Other newly elected members of the Executive Committee are: Mr. Lee Kheng Joo (Hong Kong Supernet Ltd., Vice Chairman), Mr. Chester Soong (Global Internet Networks Ltd., Secretary), Mr. H.L.Chan (Asia Online Ltd.), Mr. Bo Fussing (Gateway Internet Ltd.), Mr. Jeffrey Vong (Internet Access HK Ltd.), Mr. Cheng Che-Hoo (Information Technology Service Unit Chinese University of Hong Kong).
 

Notes to editors:

HKISPA is the only independent and non-profit Internet Service Providers Association in Hong Kong.  Its primary objective is to represent and develop the ISP industry in Hong Kong.  HKISPA has a membership of 51 companies, including local and international companies.  The URL of HKISPA's web site is http://www.hkispa.org .

For enquiry:
Ms Sawin Kwan
Phone: 2110-3631
Email: [email protected]