COMMUNICATIONS AND THE MEDIA
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has been granted an exclusive licence until September 30, 2006, to provide a range of public international telecommunications services, including international telephone, telex and telegram services and leased circuits for data and facsimile traffic.
Following a decision to further liberalise the telecommunications industry, the govern- ment announced its intention to grant licences to three new fixed telecommunications networks to enable them to compete with Hong Kong Telephone Company Limited — in data and facsimile services initially, and in voice telephony after June 1995. The new operators are Hutchison Communications Limited, New T and T Hong Kong Limited and New World Telephone Company Limited.
The local public switched telephone network has been fully digitalised since 1993. The territory has one of the highest telephone densities in the world. At the end of 1994, there were an estimated four million telephones served by 3.1 million exchange lines, representing a density of 66 telephones for every 100 people.
The popularity of facsimile communications continued to grow at the expense of telex traffic, which dropped by 9.7 per cent to 35 million minutes in 1994. In contrast, the number of facsimile lines reached 252 000 by the end of the year. A wide range of advanced data communication facilities is also provided by a public packet-switched data network called Datapak, which is operated by the Hong Kong Telephone Company Limited.
Increases in local telephone charges continue to be capped at four per cent below the prevailing rate of inflation. This price-capping scheme, which has been in force since August 1993, ensures that local telephone charges will decrease significantly in real terms, while providing a reasonable degree of incentive for continued investment and improved efficiency on the part of the operator.
A new eight-digit numbering plan is to be implemented on January 1, 1995. For most residential and business telephone and facsimile lines, the only change will involve the addition of a '2' in front of the previous numbers. The new plan is expected to provide sufficient numbers for Hong Kong for the next 15 years and beyond.
The territory is connected to the rest of the world by overland and submarine cables, satellites and terrestrial radio links. The more important cables include the Hong Kong-. Guangdong optical fibre cable, the Hong Kong-Shenzhen optical fibre cable, the Singapore- Hong Kong-Taiwan submarine cable, the Hong Kong-Luzon submarine cable, the Hong Kong-Japan-Korea optical fibre submarine cable, the Hong Kong-Taiwan 2 optical fibre submarine cable and the Asia Pacific Cable. Hong Kong Telecom International Limited operates a satellite earth station at Stanley with nine antennae communicating with international satellites over the Indian and Pacific Oceans. Two Inmarsat satellite antennae commenced operation during the year. The only remaining external terrestrial radio links are with China, Macau and Laos.
In 1994, international telephone traffic grew by 17 per cent to 2 958 million minutes. More than 230 overseas countries and territories and more than 1 140 cities in China can be called using the International Direct Dialling (IDD) service. Following the agreement reached between the government and Hong Kong Telecom International Limited, IDD charges were further reduced by two per cent in 1994, following an eight per cent cut in the previous year. Another two per cent reduction will be implemented in 1995.
Many competitive public telecommunications services continue to be provided by companies under Public Non-Exclusive Telecommunications Service (PNETS) and Public