Internet access charges should be cut to attract more users, a legislator said yesterday.
Cable and Wireless HKT (formerly Hongkong Telecom) charges $0.033 per minute for hooking up to an Internet service provider via its network.
The fee, called a PNETS (public non-exclusive telecommunication service) charge, is fixed by the Telecommunication Authority.
It is paid to Cable and Wireless HKT on top of a service charge levied by the Internet service provider.
The call for a reduction came from information technology legislator Sin Chung-kai, who said Cable and Wireless HKT had made $260 million from the service between July last year and June this year.
The Democrat legislator said the Telecommunication Authority should consider reducing the charge by half.