In its clearest indication yet of its view on the future of the SAR's telecoms industry, the Government says its 'preference' is not to limit the number of licences issued for international services.
After the January deal for early termination of Hongkong Telecom's monopoly, the Government began a review to decide whether international licences should be restricted to Telecom and its three rivals - New T&T, New World Telephone and Hutchison Telecom.
The message seems to be that unless a good case is made to stop more international service licences being issued, they will be.
The public consultation paper was issued by the Information Technology and Broadcasting Bureau, which has responsibility for telecoms. The bureau hopes to complete the consultation in early June.
Bureau head Kwong Ki-chi - who took office this week - said the Government had the 'philosophical' point of view that 'the more liberal the market, the better for all concerned'.
Initially, deregulation of the international sector will come through the issue of licences for international simple resale (ISR) of traffic. This allows service operators to buy bulk capacity from Hongkong Telecom or other potential sellers and resell it to consumers.
