Hong Kong police seek HK$5.2 billion for new 5G system to handle ‘massive amount’ of data gathered by frontline officers
- Force says new system is necessary to address national security needs and improve efficiency of policing and emergency services
- Current technology is unable to send real-time information in the form of audio, video and images, police say
Hong Kong police have sought HK$5.2 billion (US$662 million) in funding to build a new 5G communications system to handle a “massive amount” of texts, images, videos and other data gathered by frontline officers, saying the upgrade is necessary to address national security needs.
In a paper submitted to the Legislative Council on Wednesday, the force said the Next Generation Communications System (NGCS) could also “improve the operational efficiency of policing and emergency services”.
“[NGCS] can optimise the efficiency of police officers’ frontline duties, including real-time transmission of voice, video and picture messages,” the force said in the paper submitted to Legco’s security panel.
The force is altogether requesting HK$5.78 billion in funding for various technology upgrades, including the new 5G system.
An upgrade was needed because the current radio communications technology was developed in 1995 and officers could only send voice and simple text messages because of its narrow bandwidth, police said.
“They are unable to send real-time information in the form of audio, video and image, causing information on the situation at [the] scene and [during] discharge of duty [to be] fragmented, and may even have omissions and incomplete communication at times,” the force said in the paper.
Police added the use of mobile broadband had become a global trend for law enforcement agencies, pointing to places such as mainland China, Thailand, Britain and the United States.
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The last time a communications system update for the force was approved by Legco’s Finance Committee was in 2016. It involved a HK$855 million upgrade of the 999 emergency telephone apparatus, a computer-assisted command and control system, and two other subsystems.
The HK$5.2 billion will cover expenses across six financial years, including HK$1.28 billion for hardware and software, HK$860 million to build wireless base stations across the city and HK$600 million to rent mobile broadband networks, according to police. About 33,000 radio sets will also be bought.
As part of the overall HK$5.78 billion fund, the force also requested HK$390 million for the creation of a centralised digital image platform, which it said would be compatible with other artificial intelligence analysis tools to improve the identification of suspicious individuals and case-related objects.
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Technology and innovation sector lawmaker Duncan Chiu said he believed police would put in place guidelines to address data protection requirements, noting that privacy risks could be minimised through technical solutions.
“We should be discussing how to use the new system well, rather than rejecting it just because there are privacy concerns,” Chiu said.
He added the need to take into account national security in choosing the supplier of the communications system meant sanctions by the United States would not make any difference to the tender process.
Police will also seek HK$190 million for a system to manage human resources records of officers.
The force said an upgrade was needed after personal details of officers and their family members were leaked during the 2019 anti-government protests, especially after the provider of the current system stopped renewing its service contract with police in early 2021 due to US sanctions.
“Continued use of unsupported software will affect the reliability of the system and may even expose the system to security vulnerabilities,” it said in the paper.
Police added they would move their entire core database, now stored in the existing platform, to a new management system to prevent being locked out by service providers.
Washington in June 2020 imposed export bans on defence equipment and dual-use technologies on Hong Kong, hours after Beijing imposed the national security law.
