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The Office of the Telecommunications Authority (OFTA) issued the following statement today (September 6) in response to press enquiries with regard to the Court of Appeal's dismissal of PCCW-HKT Telephone Limited's appeal of the Court of First Instance's judgment of February 13, 2007, on OFTA's second public consultation on Fixed-Mobile Convergence (FMC):
"We welcome the decision of the Court of Appeal. OFTA will continue with the implementation of the regulatory changes that have been expounded in the statement issued by Telecommunications Authority on April 27, 2007."
PCCW filed the Notice of Appeal on March 6, 2007, subsequent to the judgment handed down by the Court of First Instance in February, 2007, which dismissed PCCW's application for judicial review against the authorityˇ¦s decision to continue the second public consultation on FMC in October, 2006. After the hearing today, the Court of Appeal dismissed PCCW's appeal with costs in the authority's favour and reason of the dismissal will be handed down at a later date.
OFTA initiated two rounds of public consultation on FMC in September, 2005, and October, 2006, respectively. The consultation mainly focused on reviewing the regulatory changes that are warranted to ensure that the existing regulatory regime is updated and conducive to the emergence of innovative services and applications in the light of FMC.
Ends/Thursday, September 6, 2007
Issued at HKT 20:20
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