ENG-1978 — Page 218

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COMMUNICATIONS AND TRANSPORT

On behalf of the Director of Marine, the Post Office carries out inspections and surveys of ships' radio stations to ensure compliance with the International Con- vention for the Safety of Life at Sea. Examinations are also arranged and conducted as required for the issue of international certificates connected with the operation of maritime radio services.

Telephone services and various other telecommunication facilities within Hong Kong are provided by the Hong Kong Telephone Company Limited, in accordance with the provisions of the Telephone Ordinance. The telephone system is fully au- tomatic and a flat rate charging arrangement for the local service allows an unlimited number of calls to be made within Hong Kong.

With more than 29 telephones for every 100 people, Hong Kong has the second highest telephone density in Asia and a steady growth pattern is continuing. Tele- phone service is generally available on demand anywhere in the territory, with the company extending its service to remote areas and smaller offshore islands. The telephone company operates a total of 62 telephone exchanges, with equipment rang- ing from electro-mechanical systems to the latest design in common control semi- electronic apparatus. A ships' telephone service is available which enables calls to be made into the public telephone network within minutes of a ship mooring in Victoria Harbour.

Telephone service to the rest of the world is available, in conjunction with Cable and Wireless Limited, by means of both operator and subscriber-dialled services. Since its introduction in 1976, international direct dialling has been extended to more than 40 countries including most of Western Europe, East Africa, North America, Australia, New Zealand, Taiwan, Singapore, Japan and Israel. International direct dialling is available to subscribers in most telephone exchange areas and plans are well advanced to extend the service to the remaining areas.

Hong Kong's international telecommunication services are provided by Cable and Wireless Limited. Services available include public telegram, international and local telex, international telephone, data transmission, leased circuits for private communication networks, international television and voicecast, photo-telegram and facsimile.

Two new data services were introduced by Cable and Wireless in 1978. They are International Database Access Service (IDAS) and BUREAUFAX. IDAS provides subscribers in Hong Kong with access to large database computer systems in North America via the TYMNET and TELENET data networks for retrieval of information on a variety of subjects such as finance, science, engineering, medicine and business, depending on the subscriber's requirements and the choice of a host computer.

BUREAUFAX is an over-the-counter high-speed international facsimile service through which printed forms, documents, computer printouts, diagrams, music and other printed or handwritten material can be sent to or received from the United States.

These telecommunication services are provided via various communication systems such as the international satellite communication system, submarine and land tele- phone cables, tropospheric scatter system, and microwave and high frequency radio.

Switching of telegraph, telex and telephone messages is fully automatic.