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The following is an update by the Office of the Telecommunications Authority (OFTA) as at 11 am today (December 29) on the restoration of external telecommunications services subsequent to the damages to submarine cables caused by the earthquakes near Taiwan on December 26:
Latest Service Status
IDD and roaming calls to Taiwan have resumed to 50% of the normal level. It is expected that normal service will be resumed by tomorrow. IDD and roaming calls to South Korea are still congested. Calls from Hong Kong to overseas using calling cards have the same status as the IDD and roaming calls. However, calling from overseas to Hong Kong using calling cards is still facing serious congestion.
On data services, overall there has been some improvement in access to the Internet today. However, most users will continue to experience slow access.
Local telecommunications services and communications with Mainland China and Macau are normal.
Repairing Status
Some submarine cable maintenance ships arrived at the scene yesterday. However, the weather obstructed the survey and assessment work. Initial survey indicated that damages to the submarine cables were substantial. It is expected a longer time than the original estimate of 5-7 days may be required to repair the cables. OFTA would provide updates when information is available.
Advice to the Public
The public are advised not to make non-urgent calls for the time being to Taiwan and South Korea. Overseas callers calling Hong Kong are advised to use mobile phones or fixed-line phones instead of calling cards. Internet users should, for the time being, minimise non-essential downloading of large files from overseas web sites and other non-essential activities that demand large bandwidth over international connections.
Ends/Friday, December 29, 2006
Issued at HKT 13:19
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