ENG-2010 — Page 425

Communications, the Media and Information Technology 359

spectrum in the 850 MHz, 900 MHz and 2000 MHz bands and will conduct an auction for this additional spectrum in the first quarter of 2011. In December 2010, OFTA also invited expressions of interest from the industry in the 2.3 GHz band spectrum.

Fixed Communications Services

There is no preset limit on the number of licences that can be issued for telephone fixed lines, neither is there any deadline for the submission of applications. for them. By the end of the year, there were 14 local fixed telephone network licensees, providing 102.9 telephone fixed-lines per 100 households, one of the highest in the world.

Fixed Broadband Services

Hong Kong has one of the world's most advanced fixed broadband network infrastructures and, according to a survey carried out by the University of Oxford in 2010, it also secures the second place as a global broadband leader

among the various criteria taken to arrive at the ranks, Hong Kong has a high household fixed broadband penetration rate of 82.5 per cent.

Hong Kong is also a leader in the world in fibre-to-the-home (FTTH) and fibre- to-the-building (FTTB) coverage, according to a report published in 2010 by the Fibre-to-the-Home Councils of the Asia-Pacific, Europe and North America. A voluntary registration scheme launched by OFTA in November 2010 echoed the results by recording over 8 000 FTTB or FTTH buildings, suggesting that 66 per cent of total households in Hong Kong have access to FTTB and/or FTTH networks.

Meanwhile, fixed broadband services are very reasonable

-

they are offered at a monthly rate as low as HK$99 (i.e. less than US$13) for unlimited usage of broadband internet service at a speed of 100 Mbps.

Hong Kong is also at the forefront in the provision of public Wi-Fi service. At the end of the year, Hong Kong had 9 000 Wi-Fi hot spots in around 5 000 locations in the territory.

Mobile TV Services

A frequency spectrum in the 678 - 686 MHz band for providing broadcast-type mobile TV was auctioned in June 2010. The licensee is required to allot at least 75 per cent of the transmission capacity to mobile TV to serve at least 50 per cent of Hong Kong's population by early 2012. The new service offers a wider choice of high quality TV programmes and develops further the mobile TV industry, as well as strengthens Hong Kong's status as a world-class wireless city.

Migration to the Next Generation Network

The Next Generation Network (NGN) enables seamless delivery of a packet of communication services, which includes voice telephony, data, and video from a single platform. With the rapid development of advanced technologies and the increasing convergence of telecommunications and broadcasting, operators are now