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According to the Office of the Telecommunications Authority (OFTA), with the establishment of two new base stations in country parks recently, about 95% of the popular hiking trails in the territory are now covered by at least one local mobile network.
To enable hikers and country park visitors to call for assistance in case of emergency, the Government has been proactively encouraging mobile network operators to establish more mobile base stations in country parks.
"A member of the public can contact the Emergency Centre of the Police by dialling the emergency number '112' even if his own mobile network operator does not provide any coverage at a specific location in country parks," a spokesperson for OFTA said.
"We highly appreciate the effort and contributions made by mobile network operators in enhancing the mobile coverage in country parks. In addition to the one launched at Long Ke in August this year, another one has just been put into service at Nga Ying Shan on Lantau Island. This new base station enhances the mobile coverage in Tai O, part of Lantau Trail Section 7 and other hiking trails nearby," the spokesperson said.
"There are three more base stations in the pipeline. They are expected to be completed by mid-2008 and will further enhance mobile coverage in Sai Kung East, Tai Lam Chung and southern Lantau. Looking ahead, OFTA will continue to work with mobile network operators to further improve the coverage in country parks," the spokesperson added.
"Furthermore, to better serve the public, we have enhanced the tools in our website such that the maps showing the mobile service coverage along the popular hiking trails can be located and downloaded much more quickly."
The mobile service coverage information is presented on digital maps and can be downloaded free of charge from OFTAs website (www.ofta.gov.hk/en/ca_bd/country_map/main.html). There were 99 digital maps when they were first published in September 2006. With subsequent updates and more field surveys, the number of digital maps has increased to 161.
"Although the mobile coverage in country parks has been further improved, we would like to remind hikers and country park visitors to make full preparation before they go hiking. Apart from obtaining all relevant hiking information, they should bring along communication devices other than mobile phones, such as walkie-talkies," the spokesperson said.
"Despite the improving mobile coverage, individual 'blind spots' scattered around the country park areas could not be completely eliminated because of the characteristics of radio propagation and the rugged terrain in country parks."
For more detailed information, members of the public are invited to visit OFTA's website and to view the column "Stay in Touch in Country Park" (www.ofta.gov.hk/en/ca_bd/stay-in-touch.html).
Ends/Sunday, November 25, 2007
Issued at HKT 14:00
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