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The Office of the Telecommunications Authority (OFTA) issued the following statement today (February 13) in response to press enquiries with regard to the judgement handed down by the Court of First Instance in connection with the application for judicial review by PCCW-HKT Telephone Limited (PCCW) against OFTA's second public consultation on Fixed-Mobile Convergence (FMC):
"We welcome the judgement handed down by the court today, which dismissed PCCW's application for judicial review against OFTA's decision to continue the current public consultation process on FMC. As such, OFTA will press on with the public consultation exercise until its conclusion. We will study thoroughly all relevant submissions. The Telecommunications Authority will make a decision on the matters as soon as possible after due consideration of these submissions."
OFTA initiated the first round of public consultation on FMC in 2005. The aim of the consultations was to solicit public views on the proposed deregulation to pave the way for the emergence of FMC. The second round of public consultation was initiated in 2006 with a total of 21 public submissions received by the closing date of October, 2006.
With the advancement of technology, the distinctions between fixed and mobile networks and services are becoming blurred. In order to ensure the existing regulatory regime is updated and conducive to the emergence of innovative services and applications, OFTA has taken the initiative to conduct a review of the existing regulatory regime.
Ends/Tuesday, February 13, 2007
Issued at HKT 17:26
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