HONG KONG -- The Government proposes to issue a new licence from the vacated spectrum of the two existing mobile services licences offering CDMA and TDMA services, when the licences expire in November 2005 and July 2005 respectively.
This was recommended in the second consultation paper issued by the Office of the Telecommunications Authority (OFTA) today (March 19) on the licensing of mobile services on expiry of the existing second generation (2G) licences.
The Deputy Secretary for Commerce, Industry and Technology (Communications and Technology), Mrs Marion Lai, said that in deciding on the future licensing arrangements, the relevant considerations were the need to ensure efficient use of spectrum, choice of services and continuity to customer services, as well as the need to provide a stable investment environment and maintain technology neutrality.
The consultation paper pointed out that the number of subscribers for the CDMA network fell from 280,000 in 2000 to around 40,000 in 2003, whereas for the TDMA network, the figure fell from 140,000 to around 30,000 during the same period.
"We are of the view that the spectrum under the two licences should be vacated upon their expiry for better utilization, which will in turn benefit the consumers at large. We therefore propose that the CDMA and the TDMA licensees should not be entitled to the "right of first refusal"," Mrs Lai said.
The consultation paper proposes that part of the vacated spectrum should be made available for the issue of a new licence while the rest be reserved for future use.
"We see opportunity to issue a new licence in the vacated spectrum to facilitate the introduction of innovative mobile data services supported by cdma 2000 standard, which is currently not adopted in Hong Kong. This will allow consumers to enjoy services and mobile phones or devices that have become successful and popular in places like Japan and South Korea. It will also enhance consumers' demand for mobile data services and hence increase revenue potential of the market to the benefit of all players.
"The objectives of issuing a new licence from the vacated spectrum are to facilitate the introduction of advanced and innovative mobile services. The proposal will therefore benefit consumers, spawn new industries and enhance Hong Kong's status as a mobile services hub in Asia.
"To this end, we will impose more stringent conditions on the new licence particularly in terms of quality and variety of services. Examples are requirements for data transmission rate higher than existing 3G licences and dedicated network capacity for mobile data services," Mrs Lai emphasised.