Hong Kong, a Special Administrative Region of China, has built one of the most sophisticated and dynamic telecommunications markets in the world. Hong Kong's regulator, the Office of the Telecommunications Authority, has played a major role in developing the telecom sector. The country has put in place substantial infrastructure which supports one of the world's highest penetrations of mobile and fixed telephone services at around 190% and 52% respectively.
A new report from Research and Markets entitled “Hong Kong - Telecoms, Mobile, Broadband and Forecasts” covers trends and developments in telecommunications, mobile, internet, broadband, and converging media including VoIP and IPTV developments.
Hong Kong has a sophisticated telecommunications infrastructure. In addition to Hong Kong's strong technology edge, its close geographical (and political) proximity to mainland China makes it a key gateway for all foreign telecom companies and equipment vendors hoping to capture a share of that market. Hong Kong is also a key regional telecommunications hub and is the landing point for a significant number of strategically important submarine cables.
Hong Kong has moved quickly in providing 85% of all households with access to broadband connectivity. The number of broadband subscribers represents about 75% of the total internet subscriber base, supported by a large number of ISPs. The extensive FttX, DSL and cable coverage coupled with a large fibre optic footprint has driven the market for triple play services and IPTV.
The mobile market continues to evolve as operators ready themselves for deploying LTE services. The market shows few signs of cooling and the cycle of a new technology and the subsequent battle for market share is about to begin again, even while 3G deployment has yet to reach its peak.
Market Highlights:
- In a densely packed market with over two million TV households, there were over 1.2 million IPTV subscribers and over 1.1 million cable TV subscribers in Hong Kong by mid-2011.
- 3G subscriptions continue to grow in a competitive market and consisted of over 40% of total mobile subscribers going into 2011.
- A continued boom in mobile communications, in particular in mobile data is driving the need for additional spectrum. Total mobile data usage has witnessed an explosive growth with a year-on-year increase of 189% and on average each 2.5G and 3G subscriber sends 300Mbytes per month.
- Fibre deployment continues to expand to over 50% of all broadband subscriptions and has resulted in Hong Kong becoming a world leader in terms of its broadband connection speed and competitive pricing.
- Radio spectrum in the 678-686MHz band for the provision of broadcast-type mobile TV services was successfully auctioned and awarded to China Mobile in June 2010.
The unsurprising survey results that show the lives of Hong Kong youth revolve around their digital gadgets, ranking first in owning such products when compared to their counterparts surveyed across Asia. Data in this report is the latest available at the time of preparation and may not be for the current year.
For more information visit http://www.researchandmarkets.com/research/0fd5b1/hong_kong_telecoresearch/0fd5b1/hong_kong_teleco
