image_pdfimage_print

Author Archives: hksar gov

LCQ4: Development of 5G mobile network and services

     Following is a question by the Hon Charles Mok and a reply by the Acting Secretary for Commerce and Economic Development, Dr Bernard Chan, in the Legislative Council today (April 3):

Question:

     The authorities have indicated that it will commence auctions of a total of 380 MHz of the spectrum in the 3.3 GHz, 3.5 GHz and 4.9 GHz bands from July to August this year for the development of the fifth generation (5G) mobile network and services. Some members of the industry have pointed out that as it takes about two years for telecommunications service operators (operators) to make preparation after the assignment of the spectrum to them, it may lead to the situation that 5G services can only be launched by the latter half of 2021 at the earliest, and such a pace lags far behind that in South Korea, Japan, etc. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:

(1) given that last year, the authorities briefed the relevant Panel of this Council on the auctioning arrangements seven months prior to the auctioning of the spectrum in the 900 MHz and 1 800 MHz bands and then introduced amendments to the relevant subsidiary legislation, why the authorities have not yet announced the auctioning arrangements for the 5G spectrum, when it will give an account of this matter to this Council, and how it will ensure that the auctions will be held as scheduled; of the respective timetables for the various auction-related work and amending the law;

(2) given that operators need to install, for 5G networks, base stations which will be more densely distributed than the existing ones, and the authorities will open up about 1 000 suitable government premises for this purpose, of the progress in opening up the premises; whether they will provide more premises to help operators address the difficulties in identifying sites for base stations; and

(3) given that for the avoidance of interference with satellite earth stations, the authorities have imposed restriction zones in Tai Po and Stanley such that the 3.5 GHz band inside the restriction zones may not be used for providing 5G services, which will result in the relevant research and development work in the Chinese University of Hong Kong and the Hong Kong Science Park and the use of 5G communications by more than 700 000 members of the public being affected, of the latest progress of the authorities’ efforts in solving this problem; the estimated costs for relocating the satellite earth stations at Tai Po to Stanley; whether they will allow outdoor use of the 3.3 GHz band, and of the additional band(s) of the spectrum that they will make available for operators to provide 5G services in the restriction zones?

Reply:

President,

     The fifth generation (5G) mobile network is an important telecommunications infrastructure in Hong Kong and has immense potential for various business services and smart city applications. The Government and the Communications Authority (CA) are promoting 5G developments in Hong Kong on various fronts, from the supply of spectrum, the support for technical trial to the implementation of various facilitating measures to assist operators in extending the 5G network.

     On the assignment of spectrum, the Secretary for Commerce and Economic Development and the CA issued three joint statements on December 13, 2018 to promulgate the decisions made on the assignment or auction arrangements for a total of about 4 500 MHz of spectrum in various frequency bands in preparation for 5G development in Hong Kong.

     My reply to the three parts of the question is as follows:
 
(1) 5G development needs to be supported by spectrum in the high, mid and low frequency bands. Regarding the high-bands, the 26 GHz and 28 GHz bands will be the first batch of spectrum available for use for the provision of 5G services. The CA has offered assignment of 400 MHz of spectrum in late March to each of the three operator applicants as per their applications, and the spectrum can be used starting from this month.

     As for the mid-band spectrum in the 3.5 GHz, 3.3 GHz and 4.9 GHz bands, the Government and the CA are currently making the necessary preparations for their auctions, including drafting the relevant subsidiary legislation and drawing up information memoranda for the spectrum auctions. Our aim is to complete the amendments to the relevant subsidiary legislation within the current legislative session and to conduct the auctions in the latter half of this year.

     These three blocks of spectrum in the mid-bands include 200 MHz of spectrum in the 3.5 GHz band, 100 MHz of spectrum in the 3.3 GHz band and 80 MHz of spectrum in the 4.9 GHz band.

     The spectrum in the 3.3 GHz and 4.9 GHz bands can be used shortly after completion of the auction while the spectrum in the 3.5 GHz band can be used from April next year onwards.
 
(2) To tie in with the 5G development in Hong Kong, the Government has just launched a pilot scheme in March this year to proactively open up suitable government premises for the installation of base stations by mobile service operators. The Office of the Communications Authority (OFCA), with the support of a number of departments including the Food and Environmental Hygiene Department, the Leisure and Cultural Services Department, the Government Property Agency, the Architectural Services Department, the Electrical and Mechanical Services Department, the Planning Department and the Lands Department, etc., has identified over 1 000 government premises for operators’ selection, and together with streamlined application processes, provides facilitation to operators in establishing public mobile services networks. The Government will consider whether to provide more premises having regard to the response to and progress of the pilot scheme.

(3) The satellite earth stations in Tai Po and Stanley are currently using the 3.5 GHz band for the telemetry, tracking and control of satellites in orbit. To ensure that satellite services operated by these satellite earth stations can coexist with future 5G services, the CA, based on technical considerations, has set up restriction zones in Tai Po and Stanley to constrain the deployment of mobile base stations operating in the 3.5 GHz band in the area.

     The OFCA has set up a working group comprising representatives of mobile network operators, satellite operators, the Hong Kong Applied Science and Technology Research Institute and the Hong Kong Science Park to explore whether there are feasible technical arrangements for deployment of base stations operating in the 3.5 GHz band within the restriction zones. The working group will soon complete its work and will submit a report to the CA for consideration. After considering the working group’s report, the CA will formulate technical requirements for setting up mobile base stations in the restriction zones, and will set out relevant details in the Information Memorandum for the spectrum auction.

     Whether or not to relocate existing satellite earth stations is a commercial decision of the satellite operators, and the Government needs to respect the lawful rights of the operators concerned. If the satellite operators intend to relocate their facilities so as to solve the problem of restriction zones in the long run and to promote the comprehensive development of 5G in Hong Kong, we stand ready to provide assistance. The Government currently does not have the estimate on the cost of relocating the satellite earth stations concerned.

     For the mid-band spectrum, in addition to the above-mentioned 3.5 GHz band, spectrum in the 3.3 GHz band is available for indoor deployment, and spectrum in the 4.9 GHz band can be used anywhere in Hong Kong to provide 5G services.

     For the low-band spectrum, the CA plans to vacate up to 160 MHz of spectrum in the 600/700 MHz band for public mobile services (including 5G services) mainly for indoor use from mid-2021 the earliest after the switching off of analogue television broadcasting on November 30, 2020.

     In addition to the above-mentioned frequency bands, mobile network operators also have the flexibility to re-farm spectrum in other frequency bands used for the second to the fourth generation mobile services under their existing licences to provide 5G services in different districts of Hong Kong.

     In accordance with the global spectrum allocation decision to be made by the World Radiocommunication Conference at the end of this year, the CA will strive to supply more suitable spectrum for the development of 5G services in Hong Kong. read more

East Asia

Transcript of media session by Secretary for Justice

     Following is the transcript of remarks by the Secretary for Justice, Ms Teresa Cheng, SC, at a media session after attending the Chief Executive’s Question Time at the Legislative Council today (April 3):

Reporter: … the government to lower the threshold to surrender the fugitives…

Secretary for Justice: Can you tell me on what basis? I don’t understand what you mean by lowering the threshold for evidence. I don’t understand that.

Reporter: … the supporting documents…

Secretary for Justice: And you think that is lowering the threshold of evidence?

Reporter: According to the Bar Association…

Secretary for Justice: Then you assumed it is lowering the threshold, right? Now I repeat again. In the existing ordinances, the provisions say that documents from the other jurisdiction can be submitted via the courts or the relevant government authorities in the courts. As a matter of practice, it has happened both from courts submissions, as well as governmental department submissions from foreign jurisdictions sending the documents to Hong Kong. So, I can tell you the facts, but I cannot comment on your question which I do not understand, I am sorry. What is your second question?

Reporter: … other jurisdictions…

Secretary for Justice: Hong Kong is looking at the system of ensuring that no fugitive offenders can stay in Hong Kong, and Hong Kong has absolutely no means, no proper rule-based means, by which we can surrender the fugitive offenders to the relative places. We have in Hong Kong reached agreement with 20 jurisdictions around the world, and they range from common law countries like Australia; they include civil law countries like the Netherlands and Spain; they include Islamic law countries like the United Arab Emirates; they also include jurisdictions which are closer to Hong Kong, for example, the Philippines. So we do respect the jurisdiction and the system that they have in the other places, and we must ensure that we have a proper rule-based system as a rule of law society, in order to deal with these matters. read more

East Asia

LCQ3: Provision of parking spaces

     Following is a question by the Hon Vincent Cheng and a reply by the Secretary for Transport and Housing, Mr Frank Chan Fan, in the Legislative Council today (April 3):

Question:

     In February last year, there were over 770 000 licensed vehicles across the territory and the number of parking spaces stood at 750 000, meaning that less than one parking space was available to each vehicle on average. In recent years, the problem of illegal parking has been worsening due to the shortage of parking spaces. Last year, the Police issued as many as 2.01 million fixed penalty notices against parking contraventions, which was nearly three times that of a decade ago. The Transport Department has recently proposed building, under a pilot scheme, Hong Kong’s first underground public smart car park in Sham Shui Po, which is expected to provide 200 parking spaces. In respect of increasing the number of parking spaces, will the Government inform this Council:

(1) whether it has drawn up a vehicle-to-parking space target ratio in respect of each class of vehicles; if so, of the respective current shortfalls of parking spaces for the various classes of vehicles calculated on the basis of such ratios; of the respective projected numbers of new parking spaces to be provided by public and private organizations in the coming three years;

(2) of the number of car parks (including smart car parks) that the Government will build in the coming three years in government facilities and public open spaces under the principle of “single site, multiple use”, and the number of parking spaces to be provided in such car parks; and

(3) whether it will take measures (e.g. providing incentives) to encourage private organizations to build smart car parks which can provide more parking spaces (including cylinder-vertical-lifting, lift-sliding and so-called “Ferris-wheel-style” mechanical parking spaces); if so, of the details (including the estimated number of extra parking spaces to be provided)?

Reply:

(Acting) President,
     
     My reply to the various parts of the Hon Vincent Cheng’s question is as follows:

(1) As at end December 2018, there were approximately 784 000 licensed vehicles across the territory, of which nearly 80% were private cars and van-type light goods vehicles. Over the past decade, the number of private cars and van-type light goods vehicles increased by 45% from around 424 000 to about 616 000, whereas the number of parking spaces available for use by private cars and van-type light goods vehicles increased by about 9% from about 618 000 to around 675 000. As for commercial vehicles (CVs) (e.g. goods vehicles and non-franchised buses), the number of CVs recorded a slight drop of 3% from around 75 400 to around 73 100 over the past decade, whereas the number of parking spaces for CVs fell by 5% from about 49 300 to around 47 000, partly attributable to the resumption of a number of short-term tenancy (STT) car parks by the Government in recent years for long-term development.

     Given the hard fact that land resources are limited in Hong Kong, coupled with the need to cater for competing land use demand to match the community and economic development, objectively speaking, it is virtually impossible for the Government to increase parking spaces continuously to catch up with the growth rate of the vehicle fleet. The Government’s transport policy is to encourage the use of public transport as far as possible, and to expand the public transport capacity by enhancing services as and when necessary having regard to the demand of the public and the development need of each district, thereby facilitating wider use of the public transport system with greater convenience. In fact, Hong Kong enjoys a well-developed public transport network, with about 90% of passenger trips made through the public transport system every day, and such an utilisation rate is among the highest in the world.

     We understand that some members of the public choose to commute by private car for various reasons. The Government’s current policy in the provision of parking spaces is to accord priority to considering and meeting the parking demand of CVs, and to provide an appropriate number of private car parking spaces if the overall development permits, but at the same time not to attract passengers to opt for private cars in lieu of public transport, so as to avoid aggravating the road traffic. The Government has not set any specific targets for the provision of parking spaces for private cars and CVs. Nonetheless, the Transport Department (TD) is conducting a consultancy study on parking for CVs to comprehensively assess the shortfall situation, and to formulate short- to long-term measures to address the anticipated demand.

     The Government will continue to closely monitor the parking needs of different districts and take measures to increase parking spaces as appropriate, including designating suitable on-street locations as night-time parking spaces; requiring developers to provide parking spaces at the higher end of the parking standards under the Hong Kong Planning Standards and Guidelines for new developments; following the principle of “single site, multiple use” to provide public car parking spaces in suitable “Government, Institution or Community” (GIC) facilities and public open space (POS) projects; and taking forward pilot projects on automated parking systems (APSs).
     
     Since the provision of new parking spaces through the above measures is subject to the actual progress of individual projects, TD is not in a position to make a precise projection on the number of new parking spaces in the coming years.
     
(2) As indicated in the Chief Executive’s 2018 Policy Address, the Government will follow the principle of “single site, multiple use” to provide public car parking spaces in suitable GIC facilities and POS projects. Subject to technical feasibility, the Government expects that at least 1 500 public car parking spaces will be provided in suitable government facilities and POS projects over the next five years. However, in taking forward the various projects, TD will need to count on the support of relevant stakeholders (e.g. the local community) in order to ensure the smooth implementation of the projects.

(3) TD commissioned in early 2018 a consultancy study on the pilot use of APSs, with a view to identifying six suitable sites for providing different types of automated car parks and assessing the technical feasibility and financial viability of the relevant projects.

     An APS is generally equipped with mechanical devices such as an express elevator and a revolving platform for transportation of vehicles, plus an automated system allowing for automatic location and retrieval of parked vehicles. Compared with conventional car parks, an APS can generally provide 30% to 100% more parking spaces within the same footprint.

     To promote automated parking, we will explore the possibility of introducing APSs in GIC facilities and POS as well as requiring private operators of selected STT sites to install, operate and manage APSs.

     Currently, TD is planning a total of six pilot projects based on the two above-mentioned modes with a view to gathering experience in building, operating and managing different types of APSs and the associated financial arrangements. Review will be conducted in due course on the further application of APSs in government car parks and privately operated car parks for public use in future. In this connection, TD is actively contemplating APS projects at three selected sites, including an STT site in Tsuen Wan, an open space at the junction of Yen Chow Street and Tung Chau Street in Sham Shui Po and the proposed government building on Chung Kong Road in Sheung Wan. District consultation will be conducted as soon as practicable in respect of the three selected sites and their project scope. As regards the three remaining sites, TD will work actively with relevant departments to explore the preliminary technical feasibility before making public the proposed sites in due course for consultation with relevant District Councils. I believe you all are aware that consultation has been carried in Sham Shui Po district yesterday. read more

East Asia