Hong Kong Broadband Network, established in 1999, is one of the largest telecom services operators in Hong Kong. For almost two decades, the company has been offering Hongkongers a diverse range of service including broadband, mobile, fixed line and entertainment. On the residential side, the internet behemoth looks unbeatable. It holds the greatest market share of high-speed fibre broadband – one in every three households are now using HKBN. It is also the fastest local broadband service provider, according to Speedtest by Ookla, a global leader in Internet performance testing.
Apart from residential services, the ever-growing section of the company is the enterprises solutions. HKBN offers a complete package that includes broadband and data connectivity, Wi-Fi networking, Cloud solutions, data facilities and IT advisory services for enterprises and SMEs. Today, one-third of the company’s revenue comes from the enterprise solutions market, and it is still growing. “We aim to double our revenue in the enterprises section in five years, and we are very much on track”, says Billy Yeung, Chief Operating Officer – Enterprise Solutions and Co-Owner of HKBN.
Billy says there is no secret technology that drives their significant growth – just superior service. “Our enterprise clients want a comprehensive package and quality customer service that caters to all their needs – they care much less about how a company’s technology trumps another’s,” he says, “as a people-focused company, we listen to what our customers have to say, and try to best explain and offer solutions when issues arise.”
Humbly Arrogant
One must be curious about how a company with such a short history assumed the market-leading position so swiftly. “A key to our success is that we are ‘humbly arrogant’, “ says Billy, “arrogant because we know what we do best and we want to show it; humble because we are always willing to learn new things and listen to our customers and think for them.” The company was the first to voluntarily adopt an industry-leading 14-day cooling-off period for residential customers and free-to-go broadband plans that do not tie customers down with lengthy contracts.
HKBN prouds itself as the pioneers of high-speed internet in Hong Kong. In 2005, while most of the world was lingering on traditional copper wire, the company took the risky move and was the first to lay down optical fiber infrastructure and offer 1000Mbps Fibre-To-The-Home service. “We laid the foundation long before the local high-speed broadband market was ripe,” Billy explains, “as a young company, we do not use old technology because we do not have legacy, we do not carry baggage and we are willing to take on adventurous explorations to better our service.”
Talent Engagement
Managing about three thousand employees is never easy, and in HKBN’s eyes, those are not only employees - they call them “Talents”, with a capital “T”. “We don’t see our Talents as assets,” Billy says, “assets depreciate, while investment in Talents does not.”
In 2012, before HKBN’s IPO, the company established a Co-Ownership plan for Talents who held manager or above positions to invest their own savings in the company. At the time, over 80 employees became Co-Owners, investing on average two times their annual compensation in the company’s stocks. The scheme had since been expanded to include all supervisors and above HKBN executives and now the number of Co-Owners increased to around 340. “When I joined the family in 2013, I was surprised to be offered Co-Ownership before I even got paid my first month’s salary, “ Billy, a proud Co-Owner himself, lightheartedly explains, “but after hearing about the company’s vision in entrepreneurial spirit and talent engagement, I became very impressed and agreed to invest.”
HKBN’s motto “Make our Hong Kong a Better Place to Live” can be seen in action in their HKBN Talent CSI Fund. In 2015, a group of dedicated Co-Owners donated a total of $5 million to form the fund, which is independent from the company itself. HKBN Talents come together to volunteer in social projects to help the underprivileged. HKBN “PC Doctors” is one the many projects, in which broadband engineers volunteer to diagnose and fix computers free of charge for underprivileged families.
Company: HKBN Enterprise Solutions Ltd
HKGCC Membership No.：HKH0834
Established ：1999
Website ：http://hkbnes.net