ENG-2001 — Page 453

COMMUNICATIONS, THE MEDIA AND INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY

Pursuant to the policy initiatives arising from the comprehensive review of the television policy in 1998, the Government has put in place a transparent and technology-neutral regulatory regime under the Broadcasting Ordinance to foster fair and effective competition in the market and to promote plurality and diversity in programme services.

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Under the Broadcasting Ordinance, the four categories of television programme services domestic free, domestic pay, non-domestic and other licensable television programme services that may be licensed are regulated in accordance with the nature and pervasiveness of the services rather than the transmission mode. The former two categories of licences are issued by the Chief Executive in Council and the latter two by the Broadcasting Authority (BA).

The Government has opened up the television market for competition and has licensed three more new domestic pay television services. The new services are expected to bring in no fewer than 70 television programme channels.

To encourage and facilitate the use of state-of-the-art technology in broadcasting services, the Government has conducted a public consultation on digital terrestrial broadcasting. The submissions received during the consultation period are being studied against the broadcasting policy objectives. The target is to finalise the policy decisions on the licensing and regulatory framework for digital broadcasting services in mid-2002.

Broadcasting Authority

Licensed broadcasters are regulated by the BA, whose members are appointed from various sectors of the community, apart from three public officers. The BA's major functions are to make recommendations to the Chief Executive in Council with respect to the licensing of domestic free and domestic pay television programme services and sound broadcasting services; to issue non-domestic and other licensable television programme service licences; to administer the provisions of licences; and to safeguard proper standards of television and sound broadcasting with regards to both programme content (including advertisements) and technical performance.

During the year, the BA completed the renewal exercise of the sound broadcasting licence of Metro Broadcast Corporation Limited and began the renewal exercises of the domestic free television programme service licences of Television Broadcasts Limited and Asia Television Limited. It is expected that the renewal exercises will be completed in end-2002.

In order to assist the industry in understanding the new competition provisions under the Broadcasting Ordinance, the BA promulgated the competition guidelines in February, indicating the manner in which the BA will perform its statutory functions. under the competition provisions. In addition, the BA promulgated three sets of Generic Codes of Practice on Programme, Advertising and Technical Standards for television programme services to stipulate standards for the four categories of licences under the Broadcasting Ordinance.

During the year, the BA, in exercise of its new licensing functions under the Broadcasting Ordinance, granted eight non-domestic television programme service licences and 18 other licensable television programme service licences for the provision of a television programme service in hotel rooms in Hong Kong.

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