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COMMUNICATIONS, THE MEDIA AND INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY

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professional talent. The Cyberport campus of the institute was officially opened in November.

The Cyberport also contributes to the technological development in Hong Kong and provides the necessary infrastructure and technical support for small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs). Its initial foci include the development of wireless. applications and digital entertainment. Funded by the Innovation and Technology Fund, the Hong Kong Wireless Development Centre was opened on December 15 to provide central testing and demonstration facilities for wireless developers in Hong Kong. The Digital Media Centre at the Cyberport, which provides state-of-the-art post-production facilities and technical support for the digital media industries, is scheduled to open in March 2004.

Telecommunications

The Government's telecommunications policy aims to facilitate the development of the telecommunications industry and enhance Hong Kong's position as a regional telecommunications hub.

Supported by the Office of the Telecommunications Authority (OFTA), the Telecommunications Authority (TA) oversees the regulation of the telecommunications industry in Hong Kong and administers the ordinances governing the establishment and operation of telecommunications services.

Since 2000, the Government has opened to competition all sectors of the telecommunications market - local and external, services-based and facilities-based. To provide a comprehensive and clear legislative framework for the regulation of merger and acquisition activities in the telecommunications market, the Telecommunications (Amendment) Ordinance 2003 was enacted in July. The ordinance would promote fair and effective competition in the market and facilitate informed decision-making by businesses on mergers and acquisitions. The Government was consulting the industry on the relevant guidelines before bringing the ordinance into force.

Local Fixed Telecommunications Network Services

Businesses and consumers in Hong Kong enjoy an excellent telecommunications infrastructure. In 2003, the telephone density was 56 exchange lines per 100 population one of the highest in the world. Also serving Hong Kong's needs in data communications were more than 491 195 dedicated facsimile lines.

The local fixed network market was fully liberalised as from January 2003. Under the full liberalisation policy, there is no pre-set limit on the number of licences to be issued, nor on timing for submission of applications for licences. By year-end, there were altogether 14 local fixed telecommunications network services (FTNS) operators. They included nine local wireline-based FTNS operators, two local wireless-based FTNS operators, one cable television operator which provides telecommunications services over its hybrid fibre coaxial network and two FTNS operators for distribution of domestic free TV programme services.

In 2003, the Government started a review of the policy and regulatory regime for Type II interconnection. Type II interconnection refers to interconnection between two fixed telecommunications networks at the customer access network level. It enables operators without a customer access network to also provide services to customers through the networks of other operators. The review aimed to examine