PCCW, Hutchison team up in 4G licence bid
PCCW, the city's largest fixed-line operator, and Hutchison Telecom Hong Kong, the largest local mobile operator, have submitted a joint bid for a licence to offer fourth-generation mobile telephone services.
The Office of the Telecommunications Authority (Ofta), which regulates Hong Kong's telecommunications industry, said yesterday it had received five bids for the broadband wireless access licence.
The regulator will hold an auction for the licence on January 12.
The licence will cover a spectrum suitable for the technology called Long Term Evolution, an upgraded version of the existing 3G mobile technology. It can also be used for fixed wireless broadband technology.
Other bidders include China Mobile Hong Kong, which operates the 2G mobile service in the city under the Peoples brand; CSL, a joint venture between New World Holdings and Australia's Telstra Corp; SmarTone Wireless; and fixed-line carrier Hong Kong Broadband Network.
Companies that market watchers had expected to bid but stayed away include Wharf T&T, New World Telecom and i-Cable Communications.
A spokesman for i-Cable said the wireless market was already too crowded.
The company would rather focus on its existing core businesses than starting up a new one that probably required substantial resources, he said.
Ofta will offer 195 megahertz of spectrum in the auction, with each bidder limited to 30 megahertz. As many as six licences will be issued.
As the base price for every 5 megahertz of spectrum is HK$50 million, a bidder may pay up to HK$300 million for a licence.
Market watchers said the joint venture between PCCW and Hutchison, Genius, was a defensive move amid the softening economy. Hutchison is controlled by Hong Kong's richest man, Li Ka-shing, while his son Richard Li Tzar-kai is the chairman of PCCW.
'Together, the two operators may act as a wholesaler for the next generation of mobile network to share the costs and lower the risk,' an industry watcher said.
