Chapter 458 The Personal Computer Wave and the Internet Era
The importance of transportation is beyond doubt.
If you want to get rich, build roads first!
This is engraved into the bones of the Chinese people.
Liu Tao is quite envious of the Hong Kong subway.
According to the Hong Kong subway plan, the Hong Kong subway is planned to be 264 kilometers long, consisting of the Kwun Tong Line, Tsuen Wan Line, Hong Kong Island Line, South Hong Kong Island Line, Tung Chung Line, Tseung Kwan O Line, East Rail Line, Tuen Ma Line, Disney Line, and Airport Express, with a total of 169 stations.
Now Hong Kong only has two subways, the Kwun Tong Line and the Tsuen Wan Line, with a total length of 26.1 kilometers!
According to the current subway construction cost, the cost of one kilometer of subway in Hong Kong is HK$1.09 billion, and the other unbuilt subway is 238 kilometers, which is a market of almost HK$260 billion.
And more importantly, in addition to construction, there is another part of the market, that is, trains!
Normally, whoever builds the subway will buy whose trains.
The subsequent technical services are basically also from whom!
In other words, this industry is highly monopolistic.
The money earned is not only from the construction of subway projects, but also from trains and technical service fees.
The profits here are very high.
The Hong Kong government's tax revenue and land fiscal revenue are naturally impossible to be taken away by the British. These should naturally be used for the construction of Hong Kong and benefit the people of Hong Kong.
After meeting with Ho Ying-tung, Liu Tao went to visit the working group the next morning.
As time entered the countdown, the scale of the working group became larger.
In addition to dealing with all aspects of Hong Kong, there is another important purpose, which is to learn about the development and construction of modern cities and how to manage a city.
This is a very important topic.
The people in the working group now come with a learning mentality.
Liu Tao wants to win the Hong Kong Island Line subway project, which naturally depends on the support of the working group.
The leader listened carefully to Liu Tao's introduction and nodded slightly.
"You are right, take from the people and use it for the people. Since we have technology, we can't hand it over to the Japanese consortium. Who knows if they will leave any secret doors." The leader said with great approval.
The leader said, "I will discuss this with the Governor."
When Liu Tao heard what the leader said, he felt relieved. With this, the matter was settled.
"Are there many people in the working group who can use computers?" After the business was settled, Liu Tao was a little curious.
The leader smiled and said, "As a leader, you are not sure enough. According to statistics, the number of personal computers in Hong Kong has exceeded 200,000."
"Now in Hong Kong, when recruiting clerks, being familiar with the use of computers has become a new requirement for many companies to recruit people. There are also many training classes in Hong Kong that specialize in training how to use the phone. I heard that the business is quite good." The leader smiled and said, "Our working group is also here to learn, so we naturally have to keep up with the times."
"But we have to thank you, Jinlong Computer Group, otherwise we can't afford to buy a phone. Now there are more than 200 people who can use a computer."
With Liu Tao as a butterfly, the wave of the personal computer era came earlier and more violently than in another time and space.
Although the price of computers is slightly more expensive for ordinary companies, the improvement in work efficiency is obvious to all.
If you can't afford a high-end computer, then buy a low-end computer.
The lowest price of Jinlong Computer's low-end computers has even fallen below HK$4,000.
All universities in Hong Kong have opened computer-related majors.
"The network you mentioned before is now developing rapidly in Hong Kong." said the leader.
After acquiring Hong Kong Telephone Company in 1982, Hong Kong Telephone Company applied to the Hong Kong government for an exclusive license for the Internet, and then began to upgrade the local communication system. In the second half of last year, it officially opened network services to individual users.
Of course, this network is not connected to the US ARPANET system, but is equivalent to a local area network covering the entire Hong Kong.
As for the Internet access fee, it is not cheap, 100 Hong Kong dollars per month!
At present, the total number of users who have opened personal network services in Hong Kong has exceeded 10,000, and the monthly network fee is 1 million Hong Kong dollars, which is 12 million Hong Kong dollars a year.
Liu Tao believes that the more time passes, the more users will open network services.
Until the end, everyone with a computer in Hong Kong will open network services.
In this regard, it is much faster than in the mainland.
In the final analysis, it is the development of the economy.
In the mainland, Liu Tao has just realized the network connection of various companies, universities, and research institutions of Panshan Group in the southwest.
As for individuals, there are definitely less than a thousand people who own computers in the entire southwest!
In Beijing, Shanghai, etc., regional network connection can be realized at least until the Spring Festival next year. As for national networking, it will take several years until the root server is officially built and the satellite communication construction is completed. It will take at least 1989 to realize the networking of major cities.
As for the real national Internet, extending to various counties, it would be a blessing if it can be completed before the millennium.
To popularize the Internet, the funds to be invested are huge.
In comparison, Hong Kong is just a city, so it is much easier.
After 1987, the optical cable is connected to the "Beijing-Kowloon Railway" optical cable, and the network connection between Hong Kong and the mainland can be realized.
Moreover, there is another trouble in the construction of the network in the mainland, which is the large amount of investment in the early stage, and the investment recovery period is very long.
Because the Internet requires computers first, and the Internet can only be achieved when the computers are connected to the Internet via network cables.
Although the mainland's economy has developed rapidly in recent years, the purchase of computers is mainly by colleges and scientific research institutions, and few individuals actually buy computers. Liu Tao estimates that there are less than 100,000 individuals who buy computers nationwide!
In order to promote it, Liu Tao plans to have a good discussion with relevant departments after the Chinese New Year to promote Internet cafes.
As long as there is a license, you can operate an Internet cafe.
Although Internet cafes have this and that problem, there is no doubt that Internet cafes play a major role in the promotion of computers and the Internet.
How many people come into contact with computers in Internet cafes!
"The impact of the Internet is absolutely huge. It is just the beginning now. In the future, the Internet will enter everyone's home." Liu Tao smiled.
In the layout of the Internet and communications, Liu Tao really invested a lot of money, a lot of real money.
So far, the two groups, China Mobile Communications Group and China Internet Group, have suffered huge losses every year.
But with a lot of money invested, each province has a provincial headquarters, and each city has a city headquarters, and now it has extended to every province and every city.
The headquarters of each city is responsible for the laying of the communication network, communication optical cables, and optical fiber cables in the city, while the connection between cities is carried out by the province.
Going up further, it is the group headquarters.
A large part of the money earned by Panshan Group every year flows to Huaxia Mobile Communications Group and Huaxia Internet Group. The two groups belong to the same office, but the finance and personnel are separated, and the offices are just in the same building.
The two groups are at the same level, but they are not subordinate to each other and are parallel.
Huaxia Mobile Communications Group is responsible for communication construction, operation, and services, while Huaxia Internet Group is responsible for the construction, operation, and services of Internet networks.