Communications, the Media and Information Technology ❘ 377
external telecommunications services and facilities market has led to a significant drop in International Direct Dialling (IDD) call rates.
Satellite Communications
Two Hong Kong companies, APT Satellite Company Limited and Asia Satellite. Telecommunications Company Limited (AsiaSat), hold licences under the Telecommunications Ordinance and the Outer Space Ordinance to operate and provide satellite communication services. At year-end, the two satellite companies were operating eight satellites.
Combating Unsolicited Electronic Messages
Hong Kong's sophisticated telecommunications facilities, enormous capacity for external communications, high penetration rates for personal computers, the Internet, and mobile services have made it vulnerable to unsolicited electronic messages (UEMs), or spam. In June 2004, OFTA issued a public consultation paper, 'Proposals to Contain the Problem of Unsolicited Electronic Messages' to assess the problems caused by UEMs to the community, gauge the effectiveness of current measures and seek views on a range of possible ways to combat the problem.
Drawing both on the views and ideas in the submissions to that consultation and the latest developments, the Government announced in February 2005 a package of measures under the 'STEPS' campaign' to tackle UEMs. New anti-spam legislation is one of the measures under this campaign and the Government intends to introduce a bill into the Legislative Council before the end of 2006.
International Activities
Hong Kong continued to participate in the activities of international and regional telecommunications organisations. It was part of the China delegation which attended conferences and meetings convened by the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) and it participated in meetings of the Asia-Pacific Telecommunity and the Telecommunications and Information Working Group of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) forum as an independent member. Hong Kong also took part in the initiative to implement the APEC Mutual Recognition Arrangement for Conformity Assessment of Telecommunications Equipment.
In June 2004, the ITU announced that ITU Telecom World 2006 would be held in Hong Kong in December 2006. The exhibition and an international forum takes place every three to four years and it is estimated that it will attract up to 60 000 visitors from overseas and the Mainland.
Broadcasting
The broadcasting policy objectives are to promote programme choice and diversity through competition, facilitate the introduction of new, innovative
1 STEPS stands for strengthening existing regulatory measures, technical solutions, education, partnerships and
statutory measures.
Page 435Page 436