Move will increase competition between fixed-line and mobile service providers
The telecommunications regulator is considering a new, unified licensing regime that will pit fixed-line carriers against mobile operators as they vie to offer the next generation of voice and high-speed internet services.
With new wireless technologies such as WiMax on the horizon, the boundaries between fixed and mobile services are becoming increasingly blurred.
Operators that today offer voice and broadband services over a fixed network could tomorrow provide the same services to portable devices such as laptop computers, mobile phones and PDAs.
'In the future, we may be looking at issuing a single licence to operators to offer both fixed and mobile services,' Au Man-ho, director-general of the Office of the Telecommunications Authority (Ofta), said yesterday.
Starting the consultation process was a priority this year, he said.
