****************************
Following is a question by the Hon Sin Chung-kai and a written reply by the Secretary for Commerce, Industry and Technology, Mr John Tsang, in the Legislative Council today (December 21):
Question:
Since February 2003, members of the public have been free to use, for personal communications, walkie-talkies operating within the frequency band of 409.74 - 410 MHz and of effective radiated power not exceeding 0.5 Walt, without the need to obtain licences. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
(a) of the number of complaints received since February 2003 about interferences caused to other telecommunications apparatus by the use of walkie-talkies not conforming to the prescribed specifications; the procedure adopted for handling such complaints, the number of prosecutions against the relevant persons, as well as the measures to curb such interferences;
(b) of the public education plan to alert people that, in purchasing walkie-talkies, they should pay heed to whether the products have been certified by the Office of the Telecommunications Authority (OFTA) as conforming to the technical specifications prescribed by OFTA;
(c) whether it will issue guidelines on the use of walkie-talkies for reference by the public; if it will, of the details of the guidelines; if it will not, the reasons for that; and
(d) as it will open up the frequency band of 26.96 - 27.41 MHz for public use and designate Channel 9 of the band solely for emergency communications, whether it will also designate Channel 9 of the frequency band of 409.74 - 410 MHz solely for emergency communications and deploy staff to constantly monitor the contents of the communications in that channel; if it will, of the details; if it will not, the reasons for that?
Reply:
Madam President,
(a) For the period from the opening up of the frequency band of 409.74 - 410 MHz (generally referred to as "409 MHz") in February 2003 to December 1, 2005, OFTA had received 14 complaints about the use of walkie-talkies not conforming to the prescribed specifications in the relevant frequency band. These complaints were not related to interference caused by the walkie-talkies to other telecommunications apparatus.
After receiving such complaints, OFTA conducted monitoring and launched investigations based on the information provided by the complainants to ascertain whether the complaints were substantiated in order to decide whether to make any prosecutions. As regards the above 14 cases, OFTA confirmed after investigations that none of them involved the use of 409 MHz walkie-talkies not conforming to the prescribed specifications. As such, no prosecutions against any persons have been made.
(b) In order to help the public understand how to choose appropriate 409 MHz walkie-talkies that meet the prescribed specifications, OFTA has produced and distributed posters and leaflets to the management offices of some 8000 buildings, District Offices, the Consumer Council and telecommunications equipment retail outlets. Besides, OFTA has organised exhibitions at places such as Mass Transit Railway stations and commercial buildings, and arranged the broadcast of promotional messages through Metro Radio and Radio Television Hong Kong to educate the public on how to choose appropriate 409 MHz walkie-talkies. (Relevant information and publications can be downloaded from OFTA's website at http://www.ofta.gov.hk/en/consumer_interest/learn.html.)
(c) OFTA plans to issue guidelines on the use of walkie-talkies, and will print some pamphlets for reference by the public. The guidelines will set out the protocol that should be followed when using walkie-talkies, including:
* no obscene or indecent language should be used during the conversations;
* to ensure that other users will not be affected, users should check before transmission whether the intended channel is being used by others; and
* messages should be as short as possible to minimise any impact on other users, and to enable those seeking assistance to send out their emergency messages easier.
(d) Drawing reference to the practices of other countries in the use and monitoring arrangement of Channel 9 of the frequency band of 26.96 - 27.41 MHz, OFTA has also suggested users of 409 MHz walkie-talkies to use Channel 9 exclusively for emergency communications, and encouraged relevant users to listen to Channel 9 from time to time so as to help each other in case of need, and to notify relevant rescue agencies whenever necessary. Details of OFTA's suggestion have been posted on its website (http://www.ofta.gov.hk/en/ca_bd/stay-in-touch.html) for reference by the public.
According to our understanding, emergency communications are similarly monitored by non-governmental bodies on a voluntary basis in other countries. Besides, in Hong Kong, Channel 9 of the 409 MHz frequency band is only used to serve as an additional channel for users of 409 MHz walkie-talkies to seek assistance during emergency situations. As such, we have no plans to monitor the contents of the communications in that channel.
Ends/Wednesday, December 21, 2005
Issued at HKT 12:38
NNNN
