Broadband developments--government policies,
competitive behaviours, impacts on buildings and families
A very important area currently in information society developments in Hong Kong (and also other places), is broadband communications, which can radically enhance speed and quality of electronic information flows.
As most articles on broadband communications are on technology advances, I would like to explore things viewed from the angle of users and consumers. There have been ad-hoc coverage in recent UCAC (Users and Consumers Advisory Committee, of OFTA) meetings; however, systematically reviewing the following issues and exploring future actions are still lacking:
The Government has for a long time advocated free and fair competition and the need to reduce dominance by one or two service providers/network operators. Meanwhile, the marketplace is filled with confusing promotional messages and stories of unethical competitive behaviours (e.g. advertising, soliciting) of suppliers and their agents. No one seems to know the true market share figures. I wonder whether OFTA would use its web site (or through other ways) to show a clearer picture amid confusion.
Until recently, the landlord of a building decided on choosing which service provider for the building i.e. tenants had no choice. This situation, if allowed to continue, would be against government's policy of promoting free and fair competition. ITBB and OFTA have in the last few years through policy papers, seminar speeches, etc. informed the general public that alternative broadband (wired or wireless) service providers are available, even within the same building. Moreover, web pages are being planned to show addresses and maps of these building blocks. I hope that we can see these web pages soon.
3. Within users' premises
To reduce the number of wires entering a family, the Government a few years ago addressed the objective of allowing one wire (or wireless link) per family. I would think that families also prefer to have only one set-top box per family instead of having lots of wires interconnecting different devices and needing space to put them. This is a big problem for Hong Kong families which are so short of space. But whether one-wire-and-one-box-for-one-flat is wishful thinking, over-simplifying a situation full of technical complexity and competitive behaviours, we need to wait and see. So far, very little has been known by the community on how to abide by such objective, or wait for a revised objective if difficulties cannot be overcome.
I have drawn some diagrams in the
teaching package to show macro pictures within a rather complex situation. These diagrams may need to be updated for the second version of particular topics of the teaching package.
For clarifying the doubts of telecom users and consumers concerning the above, where can we get information and advice? In case we are treated unethically, where can we get help? Could we be breaking laws or regulations without even knowing their existence? What can we do to make improvements?…These are some questions in search for answers.
Your are welcome to share your knowledge or experiences, support or disagree with points made above, or raise further questions.
Dr Charles Lam
April 2001
Email address:
clam@kamching.com