HONG KONG -(Dow Jones)- Hong Kong plans to merge the government bodies that oversee its telecommunications and broadcasting sectors, in hopes of responding better to the rapid changes in communications technology, an official said Wednesday.
The proposed shift would move Hong Kong closer to the model of the U.S., whose Federal Communications Commission oversees television, radio and telecoms firms. Currently, Hong Kong has both a Broadcasting Authority for the media, and the Office of the Telecommunications Authority that looks after telephone companies.
"Our intended way forward, in a nutshell, is to set up a single, lean and skilled, and responsive regulator overseeing the entire electronic communications sector," said John Tsang, secretary for commerce, industry and technology.
Tsang said the government would formalize its proposal in coming months and issue a consultation document in early 2005. After gathering responses from the industry and the public, preparations for the new body would begin by mid-2005, he said. The change will require legislative approval.
The move is a natural response to technological and business changes that have seen a blurring of the boundaries between companies that offer phone services and those that broadcast programming. Indeed, the Broadcasting Authority and OFTA now regulate many of the same firms.
For instance, PCCW Ltd. (PCW), the dominant provider of fixed-line telephone service, has launched a pay-TV operation, now Broadband TV, that sends its channels over telephone lines. Similarly, i-Cable Communications Ltd. (ICAB), the major pay-TV operator in the city, is starting to use its cable network to offer Internet and telephone services.
Tsang also said the practices of the new regulatory body would strive to follow "the international paradigm shift from detailed rule-making to competition-based regulation of the communications sector."
Hong Kong's generally well-off population are heavy users of electronic communications: there are more registered mobile-phone subscribers than people, and two-thirds of households have computers. Its regulatory agencies are separate from those of mainland China, which also has different bodies to supervise broadcast media and telecoms.
-By Andrew Batson, Dow Jones Newswires; 852-2802-7002; andrew.batson@dowjones.com
Edited by David Riordan
(END) Dow Jones Newswires "
Posted to the site on 27th October 2004
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