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Following is a question by the Hon Emily Lau and a written reply by the Secretary for Commerce, Industry and Technology, Mr Joseph WP Wong, in the Legislative Council today (January 31):
Question:
A number of submarine cables were damaged by a severe earthquake which occurred in Luzon Strait on the 26th of last month. External telecommunications services in Hong Kong (including IDD calls, roaming calls and Internet access to overseas web sites) were seriously affected for several days following the earthquake. In this connection, will the Executive Authorities inform this Council:
(a) whether they have assessed the impact of this incident on small and medium enterprises (SMEs), including the number of SMEs which have suffered economic losses and the total amount of such losses, as well as the number of SMEs which have not yet resumed normal operation and the relevant details;
(b) whether they know the details of the insurance taken out by SMEs against business losses arising from natural disasters; and
(c) of the measures in place to assist the SMEs affected?
Reply:
Madam President,
(a) Following the implementation of contingency measures by the telecommunications operators, communication and Internet services between Hong Kong and other places resumed within a short period of time after the earthquake. For example, IDD and roaming services resumed normal within two to three days after the earthquake while more than 80% of international connection capacity of the Internet service recovered gradually. As Hong Kong's external communications services have quickly recovered, the Government did not undertake a study to assess the impact of this incident on the overall economy and small medium enterprises (SMEs) as well as the potential economic losses;
(b) Given the large number of SMEs in Hong Kong, the Government does not have information on the details of insurance policies subscribed by SMEs against business losses arising from natural disasters; and
(c) In the light of this incident, we will enhance the existing reporting mechanisms so that timely announcements can be made to the public, including SMEs, if there are widespread disruptions to external telecommunications services in the future. The Office of the Telecommunications Authority (OFTA) is currently working with the telecommunications industry and the enhanced reporting mechanism is expected to be implemented in February 2007. In addition, OFTA has initiated discussions with individual telecommunications service operators with a view to urging them to map out appropriate contingency plans to reduce the potential impact of natural disasters to the provision of external telecommunications services in Hong Kong. OFTA will examine their contingency plans to ensure efficient backup capacity and effective diversity will be available to deal with emergencies.
On the other hand, we will help SMEs better prepare for potential future disruption to Internet access and/or external telecommunications services. The Office of the Government Chief Information Officer will enhance the content of their public education programme. The contents in the SME section of the one-stop information security portal (www.infosec.gov.hk) as well as the booklet on SME Information Security Guideline will also be enriched to provide advice on measures that could be taken to cater for the event of Internet services disruption and other adverse conditions. In addition, the Small and Medium Enterprises Committee will hold a discussion to explore possible ways to enhance SMEs' ability in handling similar emergency issues. Industry and trade associations, including SME associations, can apply for the SME Development Fund managed by the Trade and Industry Department, to carry out projects to help SMEs prepare for contingency plans in future.
Ends/Wednesday, January 31, 2007
Issued at HKT 14:30
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