ENG-2004 — Page 470

404 Communications, the Media and Information Technology

International Activities

Hong Kong continued to participate in the activities of international and regional telecommunications organisations. As a member of China's delegation, Hong Kong was represented in conferences and meetings convened by the International Telecommunication Union (ITU). Hong Kong participated in its own right in meetings of the Asia-Pacific Telecommunity and the Telecommunications and Information Working Group of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC). Hong Kong also took part in the initiative to implement the APEC Mutual Recognition Arrangement for Conformity Assessment of Telecommunications Equipment.

In March 2004, Hong Kong hosted the 29th APEC Telecommunications and Information Working Group meeting, attended by about 300 delegates from APEC economies.

In June 2004, the ITU announced that ITU Telecom World 2006 would be held in Hong Kong in December 2006. ITU Telecom World consists of a mega-exhibition and an international forum and takes place every three to four years. The event will strengthen further Hong Kong's position as a telecommunications hub and a first- class world city.

Broadcasting

The broadcasting policy objectives are to promote programme choice and diversity through competition, to facilitate introduction of new, innovative broadcasting services, and to enhance Hong Kong's position as a regional broadcasting hub.

Hong Kong's regulatory regime is technology-neutral. The provision of television. services and carriage networks are separately regulated so that a television programme service provider may hire operators of any transmission networks to transmit its service instead of investing heavily in transmission infrastructure itself. This arrangement facilitates market entry.

Under the Broadcasting Ordinance, the four categories of television programme services domestic free, domestic pay, non-domestic (mainly satellite television service for the region) and other licensable television programme services (mainly television service for hotel rooms) - 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 Broadcasting Authority

The BA is the statutory regulator of the broadcasting sector. It comprises nine non-official members from various sectors of the community and three public officers. The BA's main function is to safeguard proper standards of television and sound broadcasting with regard to both programme and advertising content and technical performance. This is done through regular consultation with the public through a television and radio consultative scheme and focus group discussion to collect audience feedback. The BA publishes codes of practice on programme,