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The Office of the Telecommunications Authority (OFTA) today (January 6) introduced a new Services-Based Operator (SBO) Licence for the provision of Internet Protocol (IP) telephony services, facilitating the availability of greater choices of innovative telecommunications services for consumers' benefits.
The SBO Licence is a services-based licence operated under a two-class (Class 1 & Class 2) regulatory regime for the provision of IP telephony services.
A spokesman for OFTA said, "Incumbent network operators have already grasped the business opportunity by launching IP telephony services in Hong Kong. The commencement of the new SBO Licence opens up opportunity for service providers to compete in the market. This will not only induce investments in service innovation but will also benefit consumers, who are able to enjoy greater choices of innovative services which potentially combine voice services with multi-media services, applications and contents at lower prices."
"In order to enable consumers to identify the class of services provided to them, providers of Class 2 service are required to use telephone numbers with "57" and "58" as prefix. Class 1 service shares the same number blocks that are currently used by the traditional telephone service, i.e., with "2" and "3" as prefix. But number portability will only be available for Class 1 service," the spokesman explained.
"Providers of Class 2 service are also required to declare in all promoting, marketing or advertising materials concerning that the service provided is a "Class 2 service". With these requirements, consumers will be able to distinguish readily between the two classes of services and choose those that best suit their needs," the spokesman said.
"In consideration of the special characteristics of the IP telephony services and the need to safeguard consumer interests, Class 1 and Class 2 service providers are required to provide backup power supply if the service is to be provided to lifeline users. Where backup power supply is not available, the service providers are required to affix a label onto the wall socket panel or any equipment installed on the customer's premises, or take reasonable steps to remind the customers that the service is without backup power supply," the spokesman elaborated.
The SBO Licence is available for application as from today. The guidelines for the application for SBO Licence and application form are published on OFTA's website at www.ofta.gov.hk for interested parties to submit their application for the SBO Licence.
Background:
Following the issue of the Telecommunications Authority (TA) Statement on regulation of IP telephony services on June 20, 2005, OFTA issued the consultation paper on the creation of a new licence for SBO and the introduction of a two-class (Classes 1 & 2) regulatory regime for the provision of IP telephony services on August 22, 2005. After studying the submissions received, the TA today issued a statement to conclude TA's views on SBO licence.
In summary, Class 1 services are those services that have all the attributes of the conventional telephone services and are required to fulfil the licensing conditions of the fixed telecommunications network services / fixed carrier licences relevant to the provision of local voice telephony services. Class 2 services are those services that do not have all the attributes of the conventional telephone services and are only subject to minimal licensing conditions with the main purpose to protect consumer interests and safeguard competition.
To provide Class 1 and Class 2 services, SBO licensees are required to make commercial arrangements with fixed network operators for hosting connection, so that the traffic of the IP telephony services can be routed through the hosting network to and from the other fixed network operators.
Like other services-based licences, the SBO Licence is valid for one year, and is renewable on an annual basis.
Ends/Friday, January 6, 2006
Issued at HKT 14:00
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