Derecho Internacional Mondaq - Hong Kong Law Articles in English (2008)
Ms Gabriela Kennedy - Lovells
Extract
Rolling The Dice On Mobile Virtual Networks: The 3G Environment In Hong Kong
Since the Office of the Telecommunications Authority ("OFTA") announced the winners of 3G mobile licences in Hong Kong in late September, two of the four licensees, Hong Kong CSL Limited ("CSL") and Sunday 3G (Hong Kong) Limited ("Sunday"), have announced publicly that they are not planning any "capital expenditure" on 3G for a while.
With the recent downturn in the telecommunications sector, and the economy generally, such announcements make sense, even though the four Hong Kong 3G licensees ("the Licensees") did not have to bid for their licences in an auction and have paid considerably less for their licences than their counterparts in the UK and Germany, for example. The economic downturn, exacerbated by the events of September 11, and coupled with the significant technological hurdles associated with establishing a viable 3G network will undoubtedly have an impact on when the Licensees decide to commence the rollout of th...See the full content of this document