Consent has been granted for the proposed privatisation of PCCW under the merger and acquisition provisions of the Telecommunications Ordinance.

The Office of the Telecommunications Authority announced today privatisation will not substantially lessen competition in Hong Kong's telecom market.

The authority has consulted the industry and assessed the impact the move would have on competition in the telecommunications market, including the markets for mobile services and external fixed services.

Privatisation is PCCW's internal matter, which involves the increase of shareholding by its existing shareholders. It also does not directly create any new areas of overlap between its telecommunications operations and those of other operators in Hong Kong.

The authority will publish a report setting out the full reasons for giving the consent. The authority's consent does not authorise any other transactions in connection with PCCW which do not fall within the terms set out in the company's announcement on November 4, which stated after the privatisation, the companies connected with Richard Li would hold 66.67% of the company, and the Netcom group would hold the remaining 33.33%.