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(1) whether there should be any restriction on the number of channels per

operator allowed; and

(

whether fixed telecommunication network services licensees and cable network operators should be required to rent out their spare transmission capacity to potential subscription TV operators on a fair and non discriminatory manner.

Members can see from that list that this review covers a very wide range and highly complex issues and clearly it would take time to complete. We hope this review will provide us with the necessary parameters to determine the basis for the deregulation of the subscription TV market in Hong Kong next year.

Mr President, let me close by re-emphasising that Hong Kong already has a well-defined, open and clear broadcasting regulatory environment and that Hong Kong is fast becoming a broadcasting centre in Asia. This notwithstanding, we are taking action to address the issues which are of concern to Members and to the industry, namely the drafting of a comprehensive piece of legislation to bring our broadcasting law more up-to-date and making it more user friendly, and to determine a detailed and structured approach to deregulate the subscription TV market after May 1996. We fully appreciate the need to expedite action on these issues so that the momentum we have gained in the past few years in assisting the development of the broadcasting industry in Hong Kong is not lost.

So with these remarks, Mr President, I support the motion.

End/Wednesday, July 19, 1995

New broadcasting legislation in the pipeline

A comprehensive piece of legislation to bring the broadcasting law more up-to- date and make it more user friendly will be introduced into the Legislative Council in the next session.

This follows a two-year study by the Government on the existing broadcasting legislation which is both inadequate and difficult for any new broadcasters to focus.

The proposed legislation aims to bring all relevant legislation governing the licensing of all types of broadcasters, including the Television Ordinance, the Telecommunication Ordinance and the Broadcasting Authority Ordinance, under one

roof.

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