A FLAT FITTED with internet and telephone access might seem convenient - but not if you have to pay for something you did not ask for.
This is the complaint of some residents at various Hutchison-owned housing developments now being investigated by the Office of the Telecommunications Authority (Ofta).
Internet and/or telephone services are included in building management fees and are non-refundable. After eight years of deregulation to give Hong Kong one of the most competitive telecoms markets in the world, allowing property developers to divide telecom services into individual fiefdoms must look a retrograde step.
Telecoms is a fascinating market, as it gives a window on what Hong Kong might have been like if a competition policy existed. Ofta has an armoury of enforceable rules to promote choice and ensure a level playing field for all.
This makes life more difficult when you are used to controlling prime retail sites, housing, ports and even utilities. Life and margins are a lot easier as competitive upstarts can be kept out.
It is a few years since a telecoms licence seemed like an easy business to make money. Fixed-line licences demanded bigger investments and longer return horizons. Hutchison kept to its word, unlike some other licence holders and built a comprehensive fibre backbone and local loop that covers 80 per cent of Hong Kong residents.
After spending more than $10 billion, it can now offer high-speed internet access and internet protocol-based voice and video communications. It has more than 400,000 fixed-line customers and 100,000 for broadband.