Consumer worries over Li family's telecoms grip in Hong Kong after CSL deal
Consumers express concerns about fair competition after Richard Li announces HK$19b purchase of CSL New World Mobility
Li Ka-shing's family will tighten its grip on the city's HK$63 billion telecommunications market with a takeover in mobile phone services announced by Richard Li Tzar-kai that has raised consumer concerns about fair competition, even though industry players have insisted the deal could help cap costs for users.
Industry experts estimate the Li family will control more than 50 per cent of the mobile market and conservatively more than 60 per cent of fixed-line phone services.
"The Communications Authority has the power to block the merger on competition grounds. They should use it," said one comment posted on the South China Morning Post website in response to the news that Richard Li's PCCW-controlled HKT would buy CSL New World Mobility for HK$19 billion.
The purchase, subject to shareholder and regulatory approval and expected to close in March next year, would give HKT a dominant 31 per cent share of Hong Kong's mobile services market through its own "PCCW Mobile" brand and CSL's premium "1010" and mainstream "One2Free" offerings.
With HKT's already preeminent position in fixed line telecoms in the city, consumers are growing concerned about a lack of choice and the risk that prices will rise without significant competitive counterweights to Li family operations that also include Li senior's Hutchison Telecom.