21Vianet still on starting line in HK

Nasdaq-listed 21Vianet might be tearing it up in China, where it says it is the biggest carrier-neutral data centre provider, but its Hong Kong wireless business remains stalled.

The company bought a slice of 2.3GHz spectrum for $19m in a Hong Kong 4G auction exactly two years ago. Chairman and CEO Josh Chen has a plan to roll out a high-speed wireless service, linking data centres and enterprises, according to a source close to the company.

That's a tough gig, given the deep penetration of fast broadband across the territory. To date 21Vianet has had little luck in finding partners or tower real estate. Asked about the project in Hong Kong last month, executive vice president Phillip Lin declined to comment.

The problem is summed up by a local operator executive, who told Electric Speech that his company might be interested in talking to others about acquiring 4G cellsites, but that 21Vianet has nothing to deal with.