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Following is a question by the Hon Sin Chung-kai and a written reply by the Secretary for Economic, Development and Labour, Mr Stephen Ip, (in the absence of Secretary for Commerce, Industry and Technology) in the Legislative Council today (November 15):
Question:
In December 2004 and August 2005, the Office of the Telecommunications Authority conducted public consultation on the development of a regulatory framework for the deployment of broadband wireless access (BWA) technologies and services. Then, in the Policy Initiatives published last month, the Government indicated that it would continue to consult the industry on this matter. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
(a) as the Government is currently conducting reviews on the regulatory changes necessary to cater for the trend in the convergence of fixed and mobile communications services, as well as on its policy on the management of radio frequency spectrum, whether the authorities will consider the results of these two reviews in developing a regulatory framework for the deployment of BWA; if so, whether the authorities will conduct the relevant consultation after completing these two reviews;
(b) of the work schedule for establishing a regulatory framework for the deployment of BWA technologies and services, including the time frame for and specific details of the next round of consultation; and
(c) given that fixed network operators can roll out the "last mile" through BWA to provide fixed network services to clients who are relying on Type II interconnection, whether the authorities have assessed if the fixed network operators will be able to finish rolling out their BWA networks before the withdrawal of the regulatory intervention for Type II interconnection on June 30, 2008?
Reply:
Madam President,
Broadband Wireless Access (BWA) can provide fixed and mobile services. Most of the advanced economies have licensed BWA services, such as the United States, the United Kingdom, Australia, Austria, France, Germany, Japan, Singapore and South Korea. Most of these economies have introduced BWA fixed services while South Korea has launched both fixed and mobile services.
To maintain Hong Kong's position as a leading digital city, the Government's policy is to facilitate the deployment of the most advanced radio communications technologies, including BWA, in Hong Kong as early as possible.
With a view to facilitating the deployment of BWA technologies and services in Hong Kong, the Office of the Telecommunications Authority (OFTA) has conducted two rounds of public consultation in December 2004 and August 2005 to initiate discussion on the appropriate form of regulation and how radio spectrum should be assigned for such services. Subsequently, the technical assessment conducted by OFTA confirmed that there could be potential interference between existing fixed satellite services operating in adjacent bands and the proposed BWA services operating in the 3.5 GHz band. Therefore, OFTA has been identifying alternative frequency bands suitable for BWA services. This technical problem could be resolved without great difficulty and should not affect the deployment of BWA services in Hong Kong. The reply to the question is as follows:
(a) The outcome of the consultation exercises on proposed spectrum policy framework and regulatory framework for fixed-mobile convergence will have impact on the spectrum release plan and business environment of services based on BWA technologies. Therefore, OFTA will take into account the progress and outcome of these two consultation exercises in developing the regulatory framework and licensing arrangements for the deployment of BWA services. When the spectrum for BWA services is released, the terms and conditions for bidding the spectrum will be consisted with the spectrum policy framework and the regulatory framework for fixed-mobile convergence, as well as reflecting the outcome of the public consultation on BWA services. The aim is to provide as much certainty to bidders as possible for evaluating the business opportunities and risks.
(b) OFTA will have regard to the progress of the public consultation on the proposed spectrum policy framework, the public consultation on the regulatory arrangements for fixed-mobile convergence, and the demand from the industry for spectrum to launch BWA services in deciding when the consultation for BWA services should resume. If the two consultation exercises progress smoothly, OFTA will resume the BWA consultation as early as possible in 2007.
(c) Since the announcement of the policy of phased withdrawal of mandatory Type II interconnection, fixed line operators other than the incumbent operator have continued to expand the coverage of their customer access networks. According to the latest statistics, 76% of the households in Hong Kong are already connected to at least two customer access networks. Nevertheless, BWA is an alternative access technology that could be used for providing fixed line services to customers and should further increase consumers' choice of providers of fixed line services. OFTA intends to license BWA services as early as possible.
Ends/Wednesday, November 15, 2006
Issued at HKT 13:14
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