ENG-2012 — Page 361

Communications, the Media and Information Technology

To ensure efficient spectrum utilisation in the age of big data, the Government has started reviewing the spectrum re-assignment arrangements for the frequency spectrum in the 1.9 - 2.2 GHz band when the existing assignments for 3G mobile services expire in October 2016. The OFCA issued consultation papers in March and December 2012 and the Government aims to announce its decision on the way-forward by October 2013 so that the industry will have three years to plan its business and services.

Fixed Communications Services

The local fixed communications services market was fully liberalised in 2003. There is no preset limit on the number of licences that can be issued, nor any deadline for the submission of applications. By the end of 2012, there were 18 local fixed telephone network licensees, providing 101 telephone fixed-lines per 100 households, one of the highest in the world. As a result of the Government's policy to promote facility-based competition in the local fixed services market, 86.7 per cent and 76.3 per cent of residential households enjoyed a choice of at least two or three self-built local fixed customer access networks respectively as at March 2012.

Fixed Broadband Services

Hong Kong has one of the world's most advanced fixed broadband network infrastructures and a high household fixed broadband penetration rate of 86.1 per cent.

Hong Kong is also a world leader in fibre-to-the-home (FTTH) and fibre-to-the-building (FTTB) coverage, according to information published in December 2012 by the Fibre-to-the-Home Council. As at December 2012, the OFCA's voluntary registration scheme for FTTB and FTTH residential buildings had recorded over 13,000 FTTB or FTTH buildings in Hong Kong, indicating that more than 83 per cent of households in Hong Kong have access to FTTB or FTTH network(s).

Hong Kong's fixed broadband services are competitively-priced and very affordable they are offered at a monthly rate as low as around $218, or US$28 for broadband internet access service at a speed up to 1 Gbps.

Hong Kong is also at the forefront in the provision of public Wi-Fi service. At the end of the year, Hong Kong had 15,715 Wi-Fi hot spots in about 5,797 areas across the territory.

Mobile TV Services

Broadcast-type mobile TV service was launched in February 2012 with, as at December 2012, a total of eight TV programme channels targeting different audience segments in Hong Kong. Mobile TV service offers a wider choice of high quality TV programmes and strengthens Hong Kong's status as a world-class wireless city.

Migration to the Next Generation Network

The Next Generation Network (NGN) embraces multiple services such as voice, data and multi- media delivered over a single Internet Protocol-based platform. In May 2011, the OFCA commissioned a study of NGN's implications on Hong Kong's telecommunications regulatory

301