G.F. 326
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BAH also
business line demand forecast was very substantially below figures suggested by other sources and analyses. pointed out that its forecasts for the different elements of telecommunications demand were in other important areas, in particular demand for international telephone services, similar to or below those of HK Telecom.
H. Regulation of Telecommunications
HK Telecom Telecommunications network competition will greatly increase the Government's regulatory workload.
Administration's Response: In view of the rapid development and increasing complexity of
telecommunications, Government's regulatory resources are already insufficient whether or not we introduce
telecommunications network competition. There is no doubt
that the introduction of competition will add to the burden in the short term. However, the increase in regulatory resources required will not be a significant cost compared
with the forecast benefit that will arise from
competition. In the long term, a sufficiently advanced competitive environment would theoretically allow for reduced regulatory effort.
I.
Interconnection
-
HK Telecom :
Interconnection between the HKT network and a
second local telecommunications network would create an
enormous problem.
Administration's Response: There is no doubt that
•
interconnection will create an engineering problem, although this will mainly fall on the competitor. There will be a regulatory burden associated with overseeing
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