Hong Kong to Auction Spare 1800Mhz Radio Spectrum

Hong Kong's Office of the Telecommunications Authority (OFTA) has issued invitations to the existing mobile network operators to participate in the auction of radio spectrum in the 1800 MHz band, which is scheduled to be held in June.

"There has been significant growth of mobile telephony services in Hong Kong over the past years. As of January 2009, the number of mobile subscribers has reached 11.43 million. To cope with the need of additional radio spectrum for capacity expansion of public mobile service, the Government has decided to release 4.8 MHz x 2 of radio spectrum in the 1800 MHz band by way of auction," a spokesperson of OFTA said.

"The available radio spectrum is not sufficient for a new entrant to build a network that can compete effectively with the existing mobile network operators in terms of system capacity, coverage or quality of service. Therefore, the Telecommunications Authority has decided to assign the radio spectrum to the existing mobile network operators only," continued the spokesperson.

"The available spectrum will be divided into six frequency bands, each with a bandwidth of 0.8 MHz x 2. Existing mobile network operators may bid for one to all six frequency bands. The use of the frequency bands will be subject to payment of spectrum utilization fee, which is composed of an upfront fee and an annual fee. The minimum amount of the upfront fee is HK$ 60,000 for each frequency band and the actual amount will be determined in the auction. The annual fee will be pitched at the same level currently applied to public mobile service using the 1800MHz band," the spokesperson added.

"The frequency bands to be assigned through this auction exercise will be restricted for use in base stations located outside country parks and specific remote areas. This is because some of the frequency bands have already been assigned to mobile network operators for improvement of their service coverage along hiking trails. Coordination with the mobile network operators who are using the same frequencies for serving the country parks and specific remote areas will be required to prevent harmful interference," the spokesperson elaborated.

Posted to the site on 26th April 2009