COMMUNICATIONS, THE MEDIA & INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY
Public Radio Paging Service
With the increasing popularity of mobile phones, the number of paging customers has been decreasing. By the end of 1998, there were 29 licensees providing public radio paging service to 571 800 customers, down from 31 licensees and 1 million paging customers a year before.
Public Non-Exclusive Telecommunications Service (PNETS)
By the end of 1998, the number of licensed PNETS operators increased to 343, of which 74 were International Value Added Network Service operators, 133 were Internet Service Providers (ISPs), 23 were Virtual Private Network (VPN) service providers and 22 were International Simple Resale (ISR) of facsimile and data service providers.
Self Provision
The Self-Provided External Telecommunication System (SPETS) licence enables a company or an organisation to establish its own external circuits for internal communications. By the end of 1998, 67 SPETS licences had been issued.
Satellite Communications
Two Hong Kong companies have been granted licences under the Telecommunication Ordinance and the Outer Space Ordinance to operate and provide satellite communication services. APT Satellite Company Limited and Asia Satellite Telecommunications Company Limited (AsiaSat) operate three satellites each.
AsiaSat plans to launch a new satellite, AsiaSat 3S, in the first quarter of 1999 to replace AsiaSat 3 which was launched in December 1997 but failed to reach the planned orbit.
An exemption order was made in September 1998 to facilitate the free circulation of terminal equipment of Global Mobile Personal Communication by Satellite (GMPCS). A person using GMPCS service can enter Hong Kong and continue to use the service without applying for a licence.
In his Policy Address in October 1998, the Chief Executive announced that Hong Kong would develop a world-class teleport at Chung Hom Kok to provide the best possible global satellite communication links.
International Activities
Hong Kong has continued to participate in the activities of international and regional telecommunications organisations as a member of China's delegation, or on its own under the name 'Hong Kong, China'. During 1998, Hong Kong was represented in conferences and meetings convened by the International Telecommunication Union, the Asia-Pacific Telecommunity, the Pacific Telecommunications Council, the International Mobile Satellite Organisation, and the International Telecommunications Satellite Organisation. As 'Hong Kong, China', it participated in the Telecommunications Working Group of the Asia-Pacific Economic Co- operation forum (APEC), and the Third APEC Ministerial Meeting on the Telecommunications and Information Industry held in Singapore in June 1998. Hong
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