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Following is a question by the Hon Albert Chan and a written reply by the Secretary for Economic Development and Labour, Mr Stephen Ip, (in the absence of the Secretary for Commerce, Industry and Technology) in the Legislative Council today (May 9):
Question:
Recently, I received quite a number of complaints from residents in Tuen Mun and Tin Shui Wai that they fail to have clear reception of the broadcast of Radio 3, Radio 5 and the Putonghua Channel of Radio Television Hong Kong (RTHK). In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
(a) of the number of relevant complaints received in each of the past three years;
(b) of the reasons for RTHK's failure to solve the problem so far; and
(c) whether it will step up efforts to urge RTHK to expeditiously improve the broadcasting quality in the above areas, so that the residents there can have clear reception of the broadcast of the radio channels concerned; if it will, of the details; if not, the reasons for that?
Reply:
Madam President,
I reply to parts (a), (b) and (c) of the above question as follows:
(a) In the past three years, Radio Television Hong Kong (RTHK) received a total of 59 enquiries about residents in Tuen Mun and Tin Shui Wai being unable to clearly receive the broadcast of its Radio 3, Radio 5 and Putonghua Channel. The number of enquiries received in each of the past three years is set out below:
Year Enquiries
2004 23
2005 28
2006 8
Total: 59
(b) Currently, RTHK operates seven radio channels, namely, three FM channels (Radio 1, Radio 2 and Radio 4) and four AM channels (Radio 3, Radio 5, Putonghua Channel, and British Broadcasting Corporation World Service relay).
Due to the difference in transmission characteristics of various frequency bands and performance of different transmission technologies, the reception quality of FM broadcast is generally better than that of AM broadcast. The high density of high-rise buildings and hilly terrain in Hong Kong may result in unsatisfactory reception of RTHK's AM broadcast in some areas (e.g., Tuen Mun).
RTHK has been liaising with the Office of Telecommunications Authority to examine the feasibility of installing local FM transposers in areas experiencing poor AM reception. Such FM transposers enable the relay of AM broadcast onto localised FM channels to improve reception. The prerequisite for installing FM transposers in such poor-reception areas is the availability of spare FM channels covering the local areas and suitable sites for installing the transposers.
(c) In 1994, RTHK installed an FM transposer in Castle Peak to improve the reception of its Radio 5 in Tuen Mun. Besides, in mid-2005, RTHK installed an FM transposer in Tin Shui Wai to improve the reception of its Radio 3, Radio 5 and Putonghua Channel in Tin Shui Wai and North Tuen Mun.
In view of the fact that the reception of Putonghua Channel is still unsatisfactory in the vicinity of Tuen Mun Town Centre, since mid-2006 RTHK has commenced to study new measures to improve the situation. It conducted four tests of FM broadcasting on different frequency channels in Castle Peak, but the results were not satisfactory. RTHK is working with the Office of the Telecommunications Authority to come up with different improvement measures and conduct more tests to ascertain the feasibility of frequency channels. RTHK hopes to work out a feasible solution to the reception problem of Putonghua Channel in the area concerned within this year.
On the other hand, in accordance with its performance pledge, RTHK has been deploying technical staff to help the audience experiencing unsatisfactory reception solve such problems. For instance, home visits are made to help the audience solve reception problems caused by signal interference and improper positioning of antennas/radios, etc.
Ends/Wednesday, May 9, 2007
Issued at HKT 14:38
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