Network suppliers, operators warn of mobile disruption
Global equipment suppliers Huawei and Nokia Siemens lend their voices to mobile operators' push to derail HK government's spectrum plan
Two of the world's largest telecommunications equipment suppliers have joined local mobile operators in raising the spectre of acute services disruption in Hong Kong if the government seizes and auctions off chunks of 3G spectrum currently in use.
Arguments against that government plan were presented yesterday by representatives of Huawei Technologies and Nokia Siemens Networks, along with those of the city's four leading mobile service providers, at a meeting of the Legislative Council's panel on information technology and broadcasting.
"Our views are derived from our consideration of the long-term development of the industry in Hong Kong, rather than the short-term interest of one company's sales and orders," said Wong Kam-tai, the chief operating officer of Huawei Tech Investment, the marketing subsidiary of Huawei.
Our views are derived from our consideration of the long-term development of the industry in Hong Kong, rather than the short-term interest of one company's sales and orders
At the meeting, the deputy director-general of the Office of the Communications Authority, Ha Yung-kuen, reiterated the government's estimate that average 3G data download speeds would drop 18 per cent in the transition period after parts of the existing spectrum were redistributed.
Nigel Chan, the head of solutions engagement for Nokia for Hong Kong, Macau and Taiwan, said there would be "at least a 30 per cent loss" as network congestion squeezed available capacity under the government plan.
The city's 3G network operators claimed that the regulator "severely underestimated" the potential disruption, saying the loss in 3G download speeds would be 40 to 50 per cent with less amount of spectrum in use.
SmarTone Telecommunications, CSL, Hutchison Telecommunications Hong Kong and PCCW's HKT have called on the government to follow international practice by renewing their 3G spectrum allocations in the 1.9-gigahertz to 2.2GHz band, which are due to expire in October 2016.