Tuning in to Hong Kong (hktdc.com)


	GlobeCast technicians in Hong Kong office's master control room

	David Justin, GlobeCast Asia CEO

GlobeCast, a subsidiary of French telecommunications giant France Telecom, is fine-tuning its Asian growth strategy with the opening of an office in Hong Kong.

The new Hong Kong office follows its recent acquisition of broadcast services company Pacific Century Matrix (PCM). It is GlobeCast's fifth office in Asia and its 18th worldwide.

GlobeCast Asia CEO David Justin said Hong Kong would form part of a major regional hub for the company, increasing its capacity to help broadcasters coming to and from Asia. The sales office will provide an integral commercial presence in a buoyant market, he added.

"As a leader in video content management and transmission, we have been doing very well in Asia since our inception more than 10 years ago," Mr Justin said. "Our permanent businesses (TV channel management and distribution) and our ad-hoc news and sports coverage were going strong, though there were untapped opportunities in the permanent business line."

Satellite services

It was a good time to invest in Asian expansion, acquiring infrastructure to meet growing customer demand, he added.

"With our new facilities in Hong Kong and our expansion in Singapore, we have increased significantly the services we can offer our client base of regional and international broadcasters.

"Hong Kong is the Asian headquarters to many international broadcasters and an established market for TV distribution; it offers a very competitive business environment. Our acquired facilities in Hong Kong will allow us to better serve our clients by helping them monetise their content."

The tie-up with local company PCM, one of GlobeCast's satellite platform partners, had been beneficial, Mr Justin said. "The acquisition expanded our range of satellite offerings, allowing broadcasters to find, at a one-stop shop, the most adequate solution to distribute their channels to cable and IPTV networks in Asia.

"Also, the Hong Kong facilities will be integrated into our worldwide fibre network, to facilitate the import and export of video content to and from Asia."

Local expertise

"Finally, we have also acquired local expertise. Our working culture in our Singapore and Hong Kong teams is pretty much similar, so the integration was very smooth for both parties.

The Hong Kong facility will also allow GlobeCast to tap into demand for High Definition content and services, which are "rapidly becoming a must-have rather than an option," according to Mr Justin.

"In our market, technology evolves at an increasingly high pace. This offers broadcasters more opportunities to monetise their content but also adds complexity," he said. "We anticipate that more and more broadcasters will choose to outsource the technical side of their business to save time and costs. With 650 staff and 12 major technical facilities serving thousands of broadcasters across the world, GlobeCast has the critical mass to stay ahead of the technology curve. Boosting our local presence in Hong Kong allows us to offer these outsourcing services here."

Delivering Asian content

Globally, GlobeCast manages and transports more than 10 million hours of video and other media each year. Mr Justin said there is a high demand for Asian content, especially from overseas Chinese. "Recently, we closed a landmark deal to deliver 19 Chinese channels (the Great Wall Bouquet) to IPTV operators in the United States. A base in Hong Kong will allow us to distribute the popular Chinese TV content available here."

The Hong Kong office has 13 staff, including a technical team. Clients served through Hong Kong include Eurosport, National Geographic, AETN and Bloomberg.

Through Hong Kong, GlobeCast also expects to tap emerging opportunities, Mr Justin added. "MobileTV and IPTV solutions are something we are looking at with interest for the Hong Kong market, as the pace of uptake and consumer consumption there are higher than in most other Asian countries."