**************************************
The following is issued on behalf of the Communications Authority:
This press release summarises the Communications Authority (CA)'s decisions following its 40th meeting in March 2015:
Review of licence conditions in carrier licences issued under the Telecommunications Ordinance (Cap. 106) (TO)
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Following a consultation jointly conducted by the CA and the Secretary for Commerce and Economic Development (SCED) during September and October 2014, the CA concluded a review of licence conditions in carrier licences issued under the TO and decided to remove five special conditions (SCs) governing road opening works from the carrier licences.
The industry indicated general support in removing the five SCs as the introduction of and further enhancements to the cross-sectoral regulatory regimes governing all road openers over time have served to supersede the sector-specific controls imposed under the telecommunications licensing regime on carrier licensees. On the other hand, the dissenting views expressed by other respondents do not constitute sufficient justifications to perpetuate the existing anomaly in subjecting carrier licensees to sector-specific controls on top of the cross-sectoral legislation. Having considered the submissions received from the public consultation, the CA promulgated its decision today (March 10) to exclude the five SCs from new Unified Carrier Licences. The CA will also invite carrier licensees to return their existing licences for effecting the corresponding removal of the SCs.
In the same consultation, the SCED proposed to remove a general condition (GC) concerning restrictions on attachment to public buildings and trees from the carrier licences. With general support from the respondents, the SCED decided to implement the proposal and will proceed to introduce the necessary legislative amendments. The removal of the GC will be effected upon completion of the legislative process.
For details, please refer to the joint statement of the SCED and the CA, which is published on the CA's website: www.coms-auth.hk/filemanager/statement/en/upload/317/Review_of_Licence_Conditions.pdf .
Breach by fixed network operators of the conditions under their carrier licences concerning minimum depth requirement (MDR)
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Between May 2012 and September 2014, the Highways Department referred to the Office of the Communications Authority (OFCA) 126 cases of the determination of the Director of Highways on failure of six fixed network operators (i.e. Hong Kong Broadband Network Limited, Hong Kong Cable Television Limited, Hutchison Global Communications Limited, New World Telecommunications Limited, TraxComm Limited and Wharf T&T Limited) to comply with the MDR stipulated under the Land (Miscellaneous Provisions) Ordinance. After considering the assessment of OFCA and the representations from the six operators, the CA concluded that the operators had failed to comply with the relevant licence condition under their respective carrier licences in respect of the MDR in these 126 cases. The CA decided to issue advice to all the six operators for them to comply with the MDR as determined by the Director of Highways. For details, please refer to the CA's Decision which is published on the CA's website: www.coms-auth.hk/filemanager/statement/en/upload/316/FNOs_FinalDecision_e.pdf .
Broadcast Complaints
--------------------
The CA also considered complaints against the television programme "6:00 News" broadcast on the Home and Asia Channels of Asia Television Limited (ATV) on September 2, 2014. The CA decided that ATV should be advised to observe more closely the relevant provisions in the Generic Code of Practice on Television Programme Standards.
Details of the above case can be found at: www.coms-auth.hk/filemanager/en/content_713/appx_20150310_en.pdf.
Ends/Tuesday, March 10, 2015
Issued at HKT 16:16
NNNN
