Hutchison Telecommunications International's plan to lay off staff is a commercial decision, the Commerce, Industry & Technology Bureau says, adding the company was not granted a new licence in November due to public interest.

The bureau said the Government has a responsibility to ensure the efficient use of the radio spectrum, which is a scarce public resource. The number of subscribers to Hutchison's CDMA service has fallen sharply over the years to about 26,000 last July.

The decision not to grant Hutchison a new licence in November took into account this situation, the bureau said. It has allowed a reasonable transitional arrangement for Hutchison to migrate its limited number of subscribers to other networks over a period of three years. It said the decision was taken in the public interest.