The telecommunications watchdog ruled against the property manager of a Cheung Sha Wan residential estate on Wednesday for choosing a telephone company for its residents.
The Office of the Telecommunications Authority (Ofta) found Banyan Garden estate manager, Citybase, had given 'advantages' to Hutchison Global Communications and its subsidiaries by including its phone and broadband services as part of the management fee.
Both Citybase and Hutchison are controlled by Cheung Kong (Holdings), which developed the property. Cheung Kong has similar arrangements at two of its other properties - Beacon Hill in Kowloon Tong and the Pacifica in Cheung Sha Wan.
But the watchdog said it could not take any regulatory action because Citybase was not a telecoms licensee. It also did not act against Hutchison Global because there was no evidence that the company had asked for these advantages.
It said that in future telecoms firms should remind developers or management companies that they could breach the Telecommunications Ordinance by making these bundled service arrangements.
Estate residents have been paying for the services since they moved into the new housing development in Cheung Sha Wan last year. Those who chose not to use the bundled services still had to pay for them because they were part of the management fee.