COMMUNICATIONS AND THE MEDIA
Radiocommunication Service (PRS) licences granted by the Telecommunications Author- ity. They include public mobile radio telephone, public mobile data communications, one- way data message, public community repeater, electronic mail (text mail and voice mail), electronic data interchange (EDI), value-added facsimile transmission (for example, text- facsimile conversion), second generation cordless telephone (CT-2) and videotext services. In December, 72 PNETS licences and 16 PRS licences were in force.
Under liberalised arrangements, operators of international value-added network services (IVANS) can now use international private lease circuits (IPLCs) to carry third party traffic at normal flat-rate tariffs and extend their services to any territory using IPLCs so long as the services are within the permitted scope and the services are permissible under the national law of the distant territory. The present scope of IVANS covers data communication, database access and retrieval, enhanced facsimile, value-added voice services and managed data network services.
Public mobile radio telephone services continued to grow rapidly, particularly in the digital area. There are four service providers operating seven systems three digital and
four analogue, serving a total of 430 000 customers at the end of 1994. The first digital system was launched in October 1992; the second and third commenced operation in January and July 1993, respectively, Plans are afoot for all the existing analogue systems to be converted to digital operation within two years, with some capacity reserved for international roaming.
The public radio-paging service is also a very popular means of communication in Hong Kong. At the end of 1994, there were over 1 340 000 licensed pagers, representing approximately one pager per 4.6 people, which is one of the highest penetration rates in the world. There were 35 licensed operators.
The second generation cordless telephone (CT-2) service was introduced in early 1992 in Hong Kong. At the end of 1994, there were three operators serving a total of 178 000 customers, ranking Hong Kong as the most successful place in the world for telepoint service.
In 1994, the Telecommunications Authority conducted a review, and consulted the industry, on the way forward for the licensing and regulation of mobile telecommunications services in Hong Kong. One of the major proposals of the review was the licensing of new mobile services in the higher frequency bands of 1.7-1.9 GHz. Based on the results of the review and the consultation exercise, the authority decided to invite applications in November for up to six licences for the provision of personal communications services and up to four licences for the provision of cordless access services.
On satellite communications, Hong Kong saw encouraging developments during the year. The Hong Kong-based APT Satellite Company Limited successfully launched its first satellite, APSTAR-I, in July. The satellite is designed to provide telecommunications and television distribution services to northern and southeastern Asia. A second satellite, APSTAR-II, is planned for launching in 1995. For controlling the satellites, the company established a telemetry, tracking and control station at the Tai Po Industrial Estate. Another Hong Kong-registered company, Asia Satellite Telecommunications Company Limited, which has been operating the AsiaSat-I satellite since 1990, is also planning to launch its second satellite, AsiaSat-II, in early 1995 to meet the growing demand for satellite telecommunications services.
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