ENG-1999 — Page 405

COMMUNICATIONS, THE MEDIA AND INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY

Silicon Graphics, Softbank, Sybase and Yahoo! More than 70 companies, both local and overseas, have registered an interest in becoming tenants. The Government is considering the institutional arrangements for the selection of tenants and aims to publish the application procedures for the Phase I in the second half of 2000.

The Cyberport will bring economic benefits to Hong Kong. New economic activities will be created within the Cyberport itself as a result of the clustering of quality tenants and professionally talented people. The Cyberport will generate demand for supporting services, such as accounting, legal, financing and other back- office functions. It will generate more than 12 000 jobs and some 4 000 jobs will be created during its construction. Overall, the Cyberport will enhance Hong Kong's image as an international IT/IS centre by acting as a flagship project to put Hong Kong firmly on the global IT/IS map.

Telecommunications

The

Government's

telecommunications

policies, implemented by the Telecommunications Authority (TA), are pro-competition and pro-consumer. Supported by the Office of the Telecommunications Authority (OFTA), the TA oversees the regulation of the telecommunications industry in Hong Kong and administers the ordinances governing the establishment and operation of telecommunications services.

Important developments in Hong Kong's telecommunications sector in 1999 included progressive liberalisation of the local and external telecommunications markets following the 1998 Review of Fixed Telecommunications, and the introduction of the Telecommunication (Amendment) Bill 1999 into the Legislative Council.

Local Fixed Telecommunication Network Services

Businesses and consumers in Hong Kong enjoy a well-developed telecommunications infrastructure. Hong Kong had 4.9 million telephones served by more than 3.8 million exchange lines at the end of the year. The telephone density was 70 telephones or 55 exchange lines per 100 population one of the highest in the world. Also serving Hong Kong's needs in data communication were more than 383 887 dedicated facsimile lines.

Since the deregulation of the Fixed Telecommunication Network Services (FTNS) market in July 1995, the three new FTNS operators Hutchison Communications Limited, New T & T Hong Kong Limited and New World Telephone Limited have rolled out their networks and introduced new services for both residential and business customers to compete against the incumbent operator, Cable & Wireless HKT Limited (CWHKT) (formerly known as the Hong Kong Telecommunications Limited).

To encourage the roll-out of the fixed telecommunications networks, the Government announced on May 5 that the moratorium on the issue of further local FTNS licences would be extended to December 31, 2002. In return, the three new FTNS licensees provided undertakings to the Government on their network roll-outs which would offer over 50 per cent of households a choice on fixed network operators by the end of 2002. To further encourage competition in the local FTNS market, the Government invited applications on July 15 for licences to operate non-wireline-

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