A location is being sought for the sea of satellite dishes that will beam history into the heavens on the night of the handover ceremony.
While Hongkong Telecom International is to undertake the bulk of transmissions, including RTHK's world feed, provisions are being made for foreign broadcasters to bring as many as 30 portable dishes.
And the Office of the Telecommunications Authority yesterday announced a special equipment licence to meet their needs.
The three-month licence, costing $750, compares with the present one-year licence that costs between $5,000 and $17,000.
The spokesman for the handover ceremony co-ordination office, Jonathan Lange, said: 'We are in the process of identifying a suitable site for these dishes. The authority will make sure it is positioned in a way to avoid interfering with each other's signal.' Mr Lange said demand from groups for space in the broadcast centre to cover the handover ceremony exceeded the area available.
He said about 70 broadcasters had applied for the 45 booths available.
