More than 2,000 unlicensed stores could be re-selling stolen mobile phones, telecommunications watchdogs say.
The Office of the Telecommunications Authority (Ofta) estimated yesterday that there were as many as 2,300 unlicensed outlets, about the same as the number of licensed mobile phone outlets.
Police, who yesterday carried out raids on unlicensed traders, have described the situation as unacceptable.
Senior Ofta controller Eric Lam Lung said only 29 prosecutions had been launched against unlicensed traders in the first nine months this year due to limited resources.
Last year, there were 49 prosecutions under the Telecommunication Ordinance: 'Our staff are dispatched to check mobile phone retail shops. If they find they are being operated without a Radio Dealers Licence, we will issue a warning to them and prosecute them if they ignore our warnings,' Mr Lam said.
When asked why so many unlicensed traders could escape prosecution, he said: 'We have the discretion [not to prosecute them]. We have to consider whether they have a great impact on society.'