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In order to cope with the advent of Fixed-Mobile Convergence (FMC), the Office of the Telecommunications Authority (OFTA) has set the regulatory reviews on the subject as its priorities in 2006, as projected by Director-General of Telecommunications, Mr MH Au, at OFTA's Year-end Media Briefing held today (January 19).
The major components of the reviews include: 1) Fixed/mobile interconnection charges; 2) Fixed/mobile number portability; and 3) Unified carrier licence.
"We have already commissioned a consultant to assist us in the FMC review. After our consultant has produced its report, we shall conduct an industry consultation based on the findings and recommendations of our consultants," said Mr Au.
"OFTA will also be working closely with Commerce, Industry and Technology Bureau (CITB) throughout the Spectrum Policy Review initiated by the bureau.
"When we consider that sufficient clarity has been provided on the future regulatory environment, we shall commence the process of licensing of the spectrum for new wireless services," continued Mr Au.
He said OFTA would continue to monitor market and technological developments and initiate other regulatory reviews as necessary to ensure OFTA's regulation is up-to-date and relevant.
"Another industry consultation that we plan to initiate shortly is a review of the universal service arrangements. This review is necessary because of the impact, on the existing arrangements, of IP telephony which bypasses the conventional IDD services," Mr Au explained.
For the protection of consumer interests, Mr Au said OFTA shall, in conjunction with the industry and the Consumer Council, consider ways to better satisfy consumers, with a view to reducing the number of complaints, and improving the way complaints are handled.
"We shall continue to work on schemes to provide consumers with sufficient information on quality of services so as to ensure that the market would work effectively," he added.
On the other hand, 2005 was considered a significant year for the telecommunications market in terms of the success that had been made in the further deregulation of the market, as reviewed by Deputy-Director General of Telecommunications, Ms Gracie Foo, at the briefing.
One of the important initiatives taken by OFTA to further deregulate the telecommunications market was to lift the prior approval requirement on the prices of PCCW HKT Telephone Limited (PCCW). "The shift from an ex ante to ex post regulatory regime has not only facilitated effective competition, but has also benefited consumers by providing them with a wider selection of telecommunications services at lower prices," said Ms Foo while reviewing the work of OFTA in 2005.
"The gradual withdrawal of Type-II interconnection has also been smoothly implemented. Up till the end of 2005, three lists of buildings that are connected by at least two self-built customer access networks have been published," continued Ms Foo.
According to the most updated building list published in September 2005, the number of households covered by at least two self-built customer access networks has increased to over 71% of the total households in Hong Kong, a significant leap compared with the 53% before the announcement of the withdrawal of the Type II interconnection policy.
"This has proven our achievement in promoting market competition, and being on the right track of further liberalising the market," Ms Foo said.
"Further deregulation has also made possible the availability of services on different platforms under one single service package, like triple-play and even quadruple-play services. The increasing popularity of TV over broadband Internet (IPTV) services and the intensive competition in this specific market is another example of how new technologies and a liberalised market have widened the scope of consumers' choices," Ms Foo said.
Statistics which show the work of OFTA in 2005 are summarised in the Annex.
Ends/Thursday, January 19, 2006
Issued at HKT 17:24
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