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HK to Issue Four 3G Licenses This Year
Hong Kong is ready to issue four 3G licenses before the end of the year through a hybrid method, according to a news release from the Information Service Department Friday.
The Secretary for Information Technology and Broadcasting Carrie Yau was cited as saying that there will be a pre- qualification exercise to ensure the quality of the 3G network, followed by a spectrum auction based on a royalty percentage rather than a cash auction.
The Hong Kong government has also spearheaded the introduction of the "Open Network Requirement" whereby 3G licensees must make available at least 30 percent of their network capacity to Mobile Virtual Network Operators and content providers.
"This means that even small content operators may have access to the 3G network to provide attractive and innovative services to their customers," Yau said.
"We firmly believe that this will provide a vibrant and competitive environment for content and service applications to flourish on the 3G platform, making the 3G phone the most powerful and versatile information and communications tool in future," she said.
With the highest penetration rate of mobile and fixed phone business in Asia, Hong Kong has now become the region's capital of wireless technology, representing a fairly typical example of a city with an advance and competitive telecommunications industry," Yau said at the opening of the "Hong Kong Day" Conference in Shanghai.
The potential of wireless technologies in Hong Kong is undisputed as evidenced by the fact that the territory has more mobile phone users, at 5.5 million, than fixed business and residential lines, at 3.9 million, Yau said.
Yau said that mobile penetration in Hong Kong continues to grow at a rate higher than fixed lines. Last year alone, the mobile penetration rate grew from 59 percent to 76 percent. Spending on mobile services for each household in the last five years has increased by more than ten-fold, from slightly less than 4 U.S. dollars to 46 U.S. dollars a month.
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