17
Communications, the Media and Information Technology
framework to ensure that the regulatory regime remains updated and appropriate in the NGN environment. To facilitate the industry's smooth migration to NGN, the OFCA has formed a working group with the stakeholders to discuss and tackle issues relating to NGN.
External Telecommunications Facilities and Services
The external telecommunications facilities market was liberalised fully in 2000, and by December 2012, 41 licensees were authorised to provide cable-based and/or non-cable-based external telecommunications facilities. Hong Kong has six submarine cable landing stations and is connected to seven regional and trans-Pacific submarine cable systems. It is also connected to the Mainland's three overland cable networks. The external telecommunications facilities' total equipped capacity in December 2012 was over 9,400 Gbps.
Satellite Communications
The two Hong Kong companies licensed to operate and provide satellite communication services were operating nine satellites at the end of 2012. Some of these satellites have been in service for more than 15 years and will soon reach the end of their designed operation lives. In March 2012, one of the licensees launched a replacement satellite. The two companies have entered a new investment cycle of launching new satellites for replacement and provision of new business.
Combating Unsolicited Electronic Messages
The Unsolicited Electronic Messages Ordinance (UEMO) regulates the sending of commercial electronic messages (CEMs), including fax, pre-recorded voice messages, short messages and emails. Under the UEMO, senders of CEMS are required to comply with specific sending rules. There are three 'do-not-call' registers (DNCs) for fax, short messages and pre-recorded telephone messages respectively. Senders are prohibited from sending CEMS to the DNC-registered numbers without the consent of the number's registered user. By 31 December 2012, more than 2.47 million numbers were registered in the three DNCs.
Since the introduction of the UEMO in 2007, the CA has received over 23,000 reports of suspected contraventions and has issued 509 warning letters and 15 enforcement notices to senders. The number of reports fell from 6,100 in 2009 to around 2,600 in 2012, a testimony to the effectiveness of the Government's regulatory regime. The HKSAR Government continues to work with other countries and regions to combat spam or unsolicited e-mails sent indiscriminately.
Protection of Consumers
The booming mobile telecommunications market, growing number of smart phone users and rapid technological developments in recent years have generated a number of consumer issues, such as service quality, billing and contractual disputes, which the OFCA has been working closely with the industry to resolve. From 2010 onwards, the OFCA and the industry started to adopt a number of initiatives to tackle issues concerning chargeable mobile content services, mobile bill shock, contractual disputes, billing information and payment collection, and performance of mobile broadband services.
302