Ofta may issue two 3G licences based on mainland standard

http://www.asiamedia.ucla.edu/article-eastasia.asp?parentid=59110


HONG KONG: Ofta may issue two 3G licences based on mainland standard

New licenses could encourage development of new technology

South China Morning Post
Friday, December 7, 2006

By Frederick Yeung

Hong Kong's telecommunications regulator may issue two more third-generation mobile licences based on China's home-grown technology standard, a move market observers expect to open the market for mainland operators.

Industry watchers said such an arrangement is a political decision to support the mainland technology, known as time division-synchronous code division multiple Access (TD-SCDMA).

Mainland firms, such as China Mobile, which are expected to implement TD-SCDMA for their 3G operations in the country, may be interested in a Hong Kong licence using the same standard, they said.

"There is no business case for investing in the new technology for roaming in China only, as the investment is over HK$100 million for a new network," an executive of a local 3G operator said yesterday.

Ha Yung-kuen, a deputy director-general of the Office of the Telecommunications Authority, said during the ITU Telecom conference yesterday that Hong Kong is preparing to tap mainland visitors whose mobile-telephone network is based on TD-SCDMA.

He said that since no 3G operator shows interest in building a TD-SCDMA network, new licences may be needed to encourage the development of such technology.

3G operators in Hong Kong, namely Hong Kong CSL, Hutchison Telecom, SmarTone-Vodafone and Sunday Communications (now controlled by PCCW Mobile), were assigned spectrum in 2001.

All are offering the service using the European-developed wideband code division multiple access (WCDMA) standard. The spectrum is also suitable for implementing the TD-SCDMA standard.

"[Ofta] hasn't received any application or notice from operators to launch TD-SCDMA service. It should be a commercial decision," Mr Ha said.

"If [no 3G player builds] the network, we will assign additional spectrum and might issue two new licences based on this technology," he said without giving a timetable.

Should the proposal go through, there will be seven 3G licences in Hong Kong. Apart from the existing four using WCDMA, and the two using TD-SCDMA, the government is considering issuing a 3G licence for the US-based code division multiple access (CDMA) technology no later than 2008.

China Unicom, which operates a CDMA network in the mainland, will bid for the CDMA licence in Hong Kong once the tender is launched next year, according to Chen Wu, Unicom's Macau deputy general manager.

Date Posted: 12/7/2006