Hong Kong Will Issue Licenses For Broadband Wireless Services

Hong Kong will issue licenses next year to allow both fixed and mobile phone firms to offer broadband wireless services, newspapers said on Saturday, bringing "anytime, anywhere" Internet access closer to reality.

According to Reuters, under the new unified licensing system, all operators would be subject to the same regulations, said the South China Morning Post. Singapore, Australia and India already have a combined license system in place, said The Standard.

The city's Office of the Telecommunications Authority (Ofta) announcement comes amid increasing talk of convergence between fixed and mobile telecoms services, centerd on wireless technologies such as WiMAX that would allow users to go online regardless of location using laptops, mobile phones or PDAs.

Ofta had initially proposed issuing "unified carrier" licenses only to the city's fixed-line players, forcing mobile companies to pay HK$1 million ($128,205) for a fixed-line license to enter the wireless broadband sector, papers said.

But mobile phone companies have argued that Ofta's previous plan would give fixed-line carriers an unfair advantage.

Last month, Hong Kong phone company PCCW Ltd. (0008.HK), which has been battling a slide in its fixed-line market share, launched a takeover of small mobile carrier Sunday Communications Ltd. (0866.HK).

At the time, PCCW cited a growing industry trend toward "fixed-mobile convergence" as one of the reasons for the move.