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SmarTone is among the mobile operators seeking to sway a decision on 3G spectrum. Photo: Bloomberg

Operators left hanging on 3G time plea

The hopes of Hong Kong's leading mobile network operators for an extension of the government's timeline for a ruling on their expiring 3G spectrum licences remain in limbo, following a recent meeting with the Office of the Communications Authority (Ofca).

The hopes of Hong Kong's leading mobile network operators for an extension of the government's timeline for a ruling on their expiring 3G spectrum licences remain in limbo, following a recent meeting with the Office of the Communications Authority (Ofca).

An industry source said yesterday that representatives from the operators received no assurances from the regulator at the close of a 30-minute meeting on Saturday.

SmarTone Telecommunications, CSL, Hutchison Telecommunications (Hong Kong) and PCCW's HKT were invited by Ofca to present the findings of a jointly commissioned study by British firm Plum Consulting into the impact of the government's plan to reassign existing 3G spectrum on October 21, 2016, when the operators' 15-year licences will expire.

Communications Authority chairman Ambrose Ho Pui-him, telecommunications affairs committee members Hubert Ng Ching-wah and Anthony William Seeto Yiu-wai, and Danny Lau Kwok-cheung, the deputy director general of the executive arm the Ofca, attended the meeting with the operators.

But none of the government officials asked any questions during or after a presentation by a Plum consultant, the source said.

The officials also did not say when the government would announce its decision on the fate of the operators' expiring licences for 3G spectrum on the 2.1-gigahertz band.

Speculation has been rife that the government could make that announcement today.

On Friday, Ofca said: "Regarding the arrangement of the 3G spectrum reassignment, we endeavour to announce the decision before the end of this month."

The four incumbent 3G operators have urged the government to follow international practice and automatically renew their 3G spectrum licences. But the government has proposed a hybrid option in which one-third of each operator's 3G spectrum will be taken back and re-auctioned.

Industry giant China Mobile has expressed interest in bidding for that reassigned spectrum.

This article appeared in the South China Morning Post print edition as: Operators left hanging on 3G time plea
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