Hong Kong ( 25 May 2000 ) – Call it assertive, dogmatic, trenchant, categorical. Whatever you choose, there is no dispute that Y28.COM has left a mark on the average Hong Kong citizen in just a few months of its birth. It’s no easy task, especially as dozens of websites are launched everyday.

　　According to Paul Kan, Chairman of Y28.COM, "When we rolled out y28.com in February this year alongside an advertising campaign, we caught a lot of attention, and attracted a lot of eyeballs. No doubt the name itself is special, even more so for its Chinese name, and people want to find out more about it. At one point we thought of concentrating our efforts on promoting an easy-to-remember brand under y28.com, and almost began to migrate existing subscribers of kannetHK.com, launched in September last year, to the new web-site. We were also worried that the two portals would be cannibalising each other for viewers. It turns out that our worry was unfounded. Each portal draws a different group of visitors, and the extra effort required to differentiate the content, features, and tools of the two portals is more than compensated by the subscriber additions."

　　Presently both portals are available in Chinese language only, embracing both simplified and traditional full script. In terms of content, the portals cover a comprehensive range of interactive services and products under twelve channels, including Current News; Business and Finance; Horse Racing; Entertainment; IT; Sports; Lifestyle; Education; Travel, and in a bilingual first for the Internet, Predictions from popular Chinese sages. Each main content channel contains multilevel channels which are in turn linked to thousands of Chinese language media and information providers, as well as websites from a global network.

　　"We'll continue to build our brand, beef up the content, and use the portals to promote other products and services, ultimately targeting at e-Commerce," remarked Raymond Chung, Executive Director and Chief Portal Officer of Y28.COM. "The Champion Group has been amassing a lot of Internet properties and has built a constellation of special-interest websites covering the virtual universe of e-Commerce. This is our leverage. Now we can focus on enhancing viewer stickiness to the portals by enabling access and hotlinks to the rest of the Champion Group's online and mobile Internet services which are being rolled out. In addition, as alliances with external content and technology partners are established, our network becomes bigger."

Y28.COM is founded on the 4Cs of Internet success, namely

• Connectivity : ease of Internet access
• Content : attractive portals with multiple channels
• Community : e-mail, chat rooms, message boards, interactive games, instant messaging
• Commerce : a platform for e-shopping, auctions and advertising

　　"Both y28.com and kannetHK.com provide sophisticated Chinese language web navigational and search capabilities, web-based communications services, and we have an ongoing programme to promote user affinity to our portals," added Raymond Chung. "In the coming months, we're launching several new channels, which include shopping, auction, games, home & hobbies, as well as member centre and personalised content."

　　Y28.COM is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Champion Technology. It operates as an ISP (Internet Service Provider) and runs two horizontal portals. In February this year, Champion Technology announced plans to spin-off Y28.COM and seek separate listing on the GEM (Growth Enterprise Market). Details of the separate listing are expected to be announced shortly.

About Y28.COM

Y28.COM (www.y28.com) is a pioneer in the Internet industry in Hong Kong, being an operator of two Chinese language portals that cater to the different segments of young and dynamic population under y28.com, and the more mature population under kannetHK.com. As an ISP (Internet Service Provider), it provides Internet access to both retail and corporate customers through dial-up and leased lines; web hosting and data storage services to advertisers and corporate customers; and free e-mail accounts.