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The Office of the Telecommunications Authority (OFTA) continued to take enforcement actions against illegal external telecommunications services (ETS) operations.
In the past year, OFTA mounted a total of 12 raid operations, the most recent one being conducted last Tuesday (October 24). During the same period, six other operations were conducted jointly with the police to disconnect illegal telecommunications cables crossing the boundary at Sha Tau Kok. The latest operation was conducted last Thursday (October 26).
In these operations, OFTA seized a total of 75 pieces of equipment worth about $800,000 and terminated a total of 1287 telephone lines. In the operation mounted last Tuesday, 10 pieces of equipment with an estimated value of $100,000 were seized and one person was brought to the police station to assist further investigation.
"The illegal activities prejudice fair competition in the market and harm consumer interests in the long term. We will continue to take enforcement actions against them," a spokesperson for OFTA emphasised.
"The provision of ETS without an appropriate licence contravenes section 8(1) of the Telecommunications Ordinance and is a criminal offence. The offender is liable to a maximum penalty of $100,000 fine and five years' imprisonment upon conviction," warned the spokesperson.
The Telecommunications Authority (TA) may suspend or not renew the licences of ETS licensees who violate the terms and conditions of their licences. In the past 12 months, one ETS licence has been so suspended. The TA may also prosecute these licensees for contravention of section 8(1) of the Telecommunications Ordinance, or alternatively, impose on them a financial penalty of up to $1 million.
"To tackle these illegal activities, OFTA will continue to, with the cooperation of the fixed telecommunications service operators, track down telephone lines being used for the illegal delivery of ETS," added the spokesperson.
Ends/Monday, October 30, 2006
Issued at HKT 14:00
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