Telecoms watchdog says limiting BWA to fixed services may not be practical
Providers of broadband wireless access (BWA) may be permitted to offer mobile applications sooner rather than later, as the industry regulator has conceded that reserving the spectrum solely for fixed services could prove impractical.
The Office of the Telecommunications Authority, which is consulting the industry on the issue, had initially indicated it would permit only 'nomadic' services, with cellular-like hands-off devices guaranteeing connection between one area and another not allowed.
But comments from Ofta assistant director Ha Yung-kuen yesterday suggested the regulator was reconsidering this view.
'In our initial consultation document, we proposed only allowing BWA to have limited mobility ... We would now need to consider whether this could actually be practically implemented,' Mr Ha said after briefing lawmakers on the progress of the BWA consultation, which ended yesterday.
'The delineation between nomadic service and fully mobile service is actually not clear.'
It was the first admission by a senior Ofta official that differentiating between nomadic services - such as offering wireless connectivity to notebooks and personal digital assistants - and fully mobile services might be impractical in a small area like Hong Kong.
