Eng/Jap/Nat XFA Hong Kong this week hosts Asia's largest-ever gathering of the telecommunications industry. More than 30 countries and hundreds of companies are represented at the event, which has been organised by the International Telecommunications Union, the world's longest-established intergovernmental organisation. Chinese Vice Premier Wu Bangguo flew in from Beijing for Sunday's opening ceremony. His presence underlined China's determination to show the world that it's growing in to a major player in global telecoms. Wu claims in two years time, China's internet and mobile phone capacity could surpass that of the United States. The Hong Kong event is a chance for companies to show off their latest products. There are a lot of prototypes being tested too, like this computer in a headset. The user controls the computer with a special mouse. One of the hottest topics being discussed is wireless internet access. Industry experts promise that the next generation of mobile phones will allow users to access the internet at speeds faster than most desktop computers manage. NTT Do Co Mo of Japan is the only company in the world to have started a wireless internet service. It's "i-mode" service boasts 15 (M) million subscribers. At this week's show, Do Co Mo unveiled its latest wireless internet gear. The mobile phone handsets are due out in May next year. They'll allow internet connections at speeds of 64 to 384 kilobits a second - Do Co Mo's phones at the moment only manage connections at nine point six kilobits a second. These new handsets can function as video phones as well as accessing thousands of web-sites tailored to the "i-mode" service. Those at the forefront of the latest technologies are showing increasing concern about the "digital divide". With only five percent of the world connected to the internet, many countries risk being left behind. Among developing countries, Iran has the biggest presence at this week's event. With over 200 internet service providers nationwide, its telecoms professionals are keen to stress that Iran is getting plugged into the global information economy. Internationally, the telecoms sector is facing serious concerns that some of its newest technologies may not deliver what they promise. But in Hong Kong this week the industry is out to convince that its future is bright. SOUNDBITE: (Japanese) "We got together a group of experts from different backgrounds to work on the project and in only a short time we were able to bring out the mobile internet service, in February last year." SUPER CAPTION: Hiroike Akira, Executive Engineer, NTT Do Co Mo SOUNDBITE: (English) "A basic and major requirement for the development of each country is the provision of basic telecommunications services. We feel that it is the right of the people to have access to the basic requirements and of course high speed capabilities for business and research and education areas." SUPER CAPTION Mostafa Safavi, Deputy Minister, Ministry of Post, Telegraph and Telephone, Iran You can license this story through AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/metadata/youtube/ebbb2aba94ce780ffeea81229a90d65f Find out more about AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/HowWeWork

• published: 21 Jul 2015
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