should be excluded or shortlisted, no additional data should be solicited from either Windows or Supertech, and that future papers prepared by the Administration to assist us in analyzing the proposals should concentrate on those from HKCC and HCV. Windows and Supertech have not provided sufficient information for assessment, and they are not further discussed here.
Examination of Proposals
6.
We regard our remit and expertise to be confined mainly to cable television programming, marketing, market assessment, customer servicing, advertising and regu- latory matters. We have not attempted a direct assessment of telecommunications technology, capital financial planning proposals, construction techniques or Govern- ment revenue, although we have had to have regard to these aspects in the course of our enquiry. For these latter matters, we have noted and deferred to the views of the Telecommunications Authority, the Secretary for the Treasury, the Director of High- ways and their technical consultants. We have noted and generally accepted the Techni- cal and Financial Evaluation of Proposals undertaken by Arthur D. Little Asia Pacific Inc submitted as part of their consultancy on "The Establishment of a Cable TV System and Second Telecommunications Network in Hong Kong".
7. Our recommendation as to the method of evaluating proposals is that, as far as is possible, care should be given not only to the assessment of what is being offered in each bid, but also to whether the bidder is likely to keep to what he has offered if he gets the licence. While we accept that the latter cannot be established with any certainty, we have taken the view that an examination of the general reputation and track record of the companies concerned, the robustness of their projected financials, the ability to come up with creative ideas, the ability to obtain studio, dubbing and technical facilities, the line- up of top-level personnel and ability to obtain other manpower resources are all highly
relevant.
8. On the assessment of what is being offered, we used as our starting point the invitation to submit proposals issued by the Government. We also drew upon extensive information suppled by the bidders in response to requests for clarification or more detailed information. We picked out the following main items for assessment -
i.
Variety of Channels.
ii. Variety of services (other than television programming. e.g.
sound, inter-active, HDTV)
iii.
Advertising time per channel.
iv.
Lower charges to subscribers (inclusive of all vital equipment.)
V.
vi.
vii.
Minority programming (programming other than for mass audi- ence.)
Broadcast hours per day.
Proportion of local programming to imported products.
No comments yet.
Private notes are available after approval.