The new CDMA 2000-standard third-generation mobile service will launch in November while the auction for spectrum in the 2.3GHz and 2.5GHz bands for the provision of Broadband Wireless Access services is set for the fourth quarter.

With these in place more innovative mobile and fixed broadband wireless access services will soon be available in Hong Kong, Director-General of Telecommunications Marion Lai said at a year-end briefing today.

She said there will be other important regulatory initiatives this year, like the creation of a Unified Carrier Licence as the common licensing vehicle for the development of fixed-mobile convergence.

Wireless city

Mrs Lai said last year continued to be a robust and prosperous year for Hong Kong's telecommunications developments with the rapid growth of wireless communication services including mobile, short messaging and public WiFi services, making it one of the most advanced wireless cities in the world.

Despite the highly competitive mobile market the number of mobile subscribers rose to more than 10 million for the first time in October, then to another record high of 10.6 million in November, meaning a penetration rate of 152%.

"This is one of the highest penetration rates in the world, well exceeding many advanced economies such as the US, UK, Japan and Korea," Mrs Lai said.

WiFi expansion

Last year also saw a massive rollout of public WiFi networks - the hotspot number has exceeded 6,400 serving more than 4,100 locations. Coupled with the Government's commitment to install 3,000 WiFi access points at 350 government premises by the end of 2009, public WiFi services will continue to expand.

The volume of short messages Hong Kong people sent and received in the year also showed significant growth. Sent messages totalled 3.28 billion from December 2006 to November 2007, up 26% on the same period a year earlier.

Noting the continuous growth in telecommunications services proves the success of the pro-competition and pro-consumer policy, Mrs Lai said OFTA will continue to ensure the regulatory environment is transparent, adaptive to market changes and conducive to investments and development of new telecommunications services.

Click here for statistics on OFTA's work in 2007 and key telecommunications figures.