530

ii For all other services of whatsoever nature or kind performed by the Company such charges as the Governor in Council shall from time to time approve.

Objects and Reasons.

1. The objects of the amending Ordinance are to make it clear that the concession given to the Hong Kong Telephone Company Limited by the Telephone Ordinance, 1925, applies to trunk lines laid in the Colony for the purposes of communicating with places out- side the Colony and to provide a scale of charges for trunk calls and a means of obtaining security for such charges. Also to make it clear that the Hong Kong Telephone Company Limited is entitled to charge its subscribers for various services other than those mentioned in section 34 of the present Ordinance, such as the removal of lines and instruments, (the provision and installation of extensions and private switchboards), and services of a similar nature and to provide a definite scale of charges in respect of such services.

2. Although it is highly probable that on the cons- truction of the Telephone Ordinance, 1925, as it stands at present the concession granted to the Hong Kong Telephone Company, Li- mited includes the provision of trunk lines for the purpose of communicating with places outside the Colony it appears desirable to specifically include this class of telephonic communication in order to remove any doubts which otherwise might arise. As there is no mention in the existing Ordinance of trunk calls or of any scale of charges in respect thereof a scale of charges for trunk calls has been included in the Schedule and provisions as to the making of trunk calls and for secu- rity for trunk charges included in the Ordi-

nance.

3. At the present time the Hong Kong Telephone Company Limited carry out a large number of varied services for subscribers in respect of which no provision either as to carrying them out or as to payment for them is included in the Ordinance and for this reason provision has been made in the new section 34A and the Schedule.

4. This Ordinance also makes provision for the future linking up, on terms to be approved by the Governor in Council, of the system covered by the company's concession, which is a system of wire telephony, with any system of wireless telephony that may be established in the Colony.

July, 1930.

C. G. ALABASTER,

Attorney General.

Page 5Page 6

531

C.S. O. 2583/23.

Share This Page