COMMUNICATIONS AND THE MEDIA
second optical fibre cable between Hong Kong and Shenzhen, China is under construction. Hong Kong Telecom International Limited operates a satellite earth station at Stanley with five Standard-A antennas communicating with international satellites over the Indian Ocean and Pacific Ocean. The only remaining international terrestrial radio links are with China, Macau, Laos and Vietnam.
In addition to the services provided by the Hong Kong Telephone Company Limited and Hong Kong Telecom International Limited, a wide range of public telecommunication services are operated by companies on a competitive basis under Public Non-Exclusive Telecommunications Service (PNETS) licences granted by the Telecommunications Au- thority. These services include public mobile radiotelephone, public mobile data commu- nication, one-way data message, public community repeater, electronic mail (text-mail and voice-mail), value-added facsimile transmission (for example, text-facsimile conver- sion) and videotex services. By December 1990, 34 PNETS licences were in force.
Public mobile radiotelephone services (PMRS) continue to be very popular. The number of subscribers increased from 90 000 to 130 500 during the year. To cater for future growth in demand, the Telecommunications Authority plans to introduce digital PMRS in Hong Kong in 1991-2.
Public radio paging services are particularly popular in Hong Kong. By December 1990, 706 000 pagers were licensed. On a per capita basis, Hong Kong has one of the highest penetrations in the world for radio paging services (approximately 1 in 8). The pagers in use are mainly tone, numeric and alphanumeric pagers. Paging services conveying messages in Chinese characters are gaining popularity.
During the year, the Telecommunications Authority invited expressions of interest in operating Telepoint Services in Hong Kong based on Second Generation Cordless Tele- phone (CT-2) technology. It is anticipated that this service will be available in 1991.
In 1988, pursuing its policy of permitting greater competition in telecommunications, the government decided to allow a second telecommunication network for cable television and also non-franchised telecommunication services in competition with the existing network owned by the Hong Kong Telephone Company Limited. In 1989, Hong Kong Cable Communications Limited was selected to operate the second network and cable television services. The company withdrew in November 1990 making it necessary for the govern- ment to review its options for taking the project forward.
A regional telecommunication satellite, AsiaSat-1, was successfully launched by a Hong Kong registered company, Asia Satellite Telecommunications Company Limited. The Com- pany is jointly owned by Hutchison Whampoa Limited, Cable and Wireless plc and China International Trust and Investment Corporation. The launch was by a Chinese Long-March 3 rocket from within China. The footprints of the satellite cover many countries in Asia, stretching from the Middle East to Japan, including Hong Kong and China. The telemetry, tracking and control station of the satellite is located in Hong Kong.
In Hong Kong, the Postmaster General is the Telecommunications Authority and administers the Telecommunication Ordinance and the Telephone Ordinance, which govern the establishment and operation of all telecommunication services. The Postmaster General acts as adviser to the government on matters concerning the development of public telecommunication services and is a member of the Broadcasting Authority.
The Telecommunications Branch of the Post Office supports the Telecommunications Authority in the execution of his functions. One of the most important functions carried
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