COMMUNICATIONS AND THE MEDIA
Communications Systems
At the end of 1995, Hong Kong had in operation 16 satellite earth station antennas providing direct communication with 73 countries via satellite. Hong Kong was also directly connected to six submarine cable systems which linked the territory to many other countries. A new optical-fibre submarine cable system connecting Hong Kong to Thailand and Vietnam was operating by the end of 1995. Optical-fibre cable systems were put into operation to service the growing traffic between Hong Kong and Southern China.
Public Mobile Radiotelephone Service
Besides the four licensees providing public mobile radio-telephone services in three digital and four analogue systems, two extra digital systems commenced service in the second half of 1995. By the end of 1995, there was a total of 663 000 customers, increasing at an average growth rate of 3.6 per cent each month.
In response to public complaints and after OFTA's investigation and intervention, lower connection charges and wider sources of handsets were made available in the cellular phone market. Handset prices then dropped by as much as 50 per cent for some models. Also, to facilitate the analogue-to-digital conversion programme for the analogue cellular service, cellular phone operators introduced attractive handset trade-in programmes for analogue service customers changing to the digital service.
Telepoint (CT-2) Service
Three companies are licensed to provide a telepoint service in Hong Kong, using CT-2 digital technology to provide a mobile one-way call out service. New system features such as voice mail box and 'meet-me' were incorporated in the service in 1995, and about 117 000 customers had subscribed to CT-2 services by the end of the year.
Public Radio Paging Service
Public radio paging remained popular in Hong Kong in 1995. Customers were served by 38 licensed paging-service operators using 64 frequencies in the 170 MHz and 280 MHz bands. The number of customers was 1.35 million at the end of 1995, yielding one of the world's highest penetration rates.
International Value Added Network Service
A total of 83 licences for providing international value-added network services were in force at the end of 1995. These operators were able to provide a wide range of services such as electronic mailbox, data communication and store-and-forward facsimile services.
It was the year of the Internet in Hong Kong. The Internet is a world-wide interconnection of computer networks providing a readily available platform for messaging and information dissemination and exchange. Any person in Hong Kong can easily get access to the Internet through the public switched telephone network to an Internet access service provider. At the end of 1995, 52 operators provided an Internet access service serving an estimated user base of more than 50 000.
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