The Office of the Communications Authority (OFCA) published an Information Memorandum (IM) today (July 30) inviting interested parties to join the auction of radio spectrum in the 600 MHz, 700 MHz, 850 MHz, 2.5/2.6 GHz and 4.9 GHz bands.
 
     The Communications Authority (CA) and the Secretary for Commerce and Economic Development (SCED) announced on March 30, 2021, their decisions on the arrangements to assign a total of 325 MHz of spectrum, including 220 MHz of new spectrum in the 600 MHz, 700 MHz and 4.9 GHz bands, and 105 MHz of re-assigned spectrum in the 850 MHz and 2.5/2.6 GHz bands, by way of a single auction.
 
     "Parties interested in participating in the auction may submit their applications to OFCA on September 23 and 24 this year. The CA will hold the auction on October 25. The spectrum will be assigned to the successful bidders under unified carrier licences with a validity period of 15 years for provision of public mobile services. The release of the spectrum is expected to support further development of the fifth generation mobile (5G) services in terms of speed, capacity and coverage," a spokesperson for OFCA said.
 
     "The SCED has set the auction reserve prices for the use of spectrum in the 600 MHz, 700 MHz, 850 MHz, 2.5/2.6 GHz and 4.9 GHz bands at $2 million per MHz, $5 million per MHz, $4 million per MHz, $5 million per MHz and $3 million per MHz respectively. The actual amount of spectrum utilisation fees payable will be determined in the auction," the spokesperson added.
 
     "To avoid an unduly high concentration of spectrum being held in the hands of a single spectrum assignee, spectrum caps will be imposed on the amount of spectrum in individual frequency bands which may be acquired by any assignee, namely 30 MHz for 600 MHz band, 30 MHz for the 700 MHz band, 50 MHz for the 2.5/2.6 GHz band and 40 MHz for the 4.9 GHz band," the spokesperson continued.
 
     Detailed arrangements of the auction are set out in the IM which can be downloaded from OFCA's website (www.ofca.gov.hk/filemanager/ofca/en/content_1517/Auction_IM_20210730.pdf).

     The effective exchange rate index for the Hong Kong dollar on Wednesday, July 14, 2021 is 101.6 (up 0.1 against yesterday's index).

     The Department of Justice (DoJ) signed a secondment agreement with the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) yesterday (June 29) for the secondment of a DoJ legal officer to the legal department of AIIB for 12 months commencing on August 23.

     Through participating in the work of international organisations, local legal talent will expand their knowledge of the operation of international organisations and broaden their horizons through learning from international law experts. It will also facilitate the sustainable development of the Hong Kong legal community and the development of Hong Kong's position as a leading international legal and dispute resolution services centre. The department is grateful to the AIIB, a multilateral development bank with members from all over the world, for providing the secondee a valuable opportunity to work in and learn from its operation.

     Meanwhile, the Hague Conference on Private International Law (HCCH) has also confirmed the arrangement for one counsel from the DoJ and one lawyer from the private sector to commence their six-month secondment programme in September 2021 and February 2022 respectively, under the memorandum of understanding between the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region Government and the HCCH signed in December last year.

     The DoJ has also put in place programmes to second local legal talents to the International Institute for the Unification of Private Law and the United Nations Commission on International Trade Law, and it is expected that the respective secondment will commence in the near future. The department will continue to explore with other renowned international organisations to provide Hong Kong legal professionals in both the public and private sectors with more secondment opportunities.

     The Air Accident Investigation Authority (AAIA) today (May 14) published the final report (1/2021) on the investigation into a serious incident that involved a Cathay Dragon Airbus A330-343 aircraft (registration mark B-HLT) at Hong Kong International Airport (HKIA) on January 24, 2020.

     At around 4.45pm, the aircraft was pushed back by a tow tractor from Parking Bay N66 of HKIA to Taxilane B7 for departure to Kaohsiung. After the pushback, the aircraft collided with the left-hand side of the tow tractor, causing damage to the nose landing gear (NLG). No person was injured. The occurrence was classified as a serious incident according to the criteria of the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO).
      
     The investigation was conducted by a team of professional investigators in adherence to international standards established by the ICAO. The investigation identified that the ground handling crew disconnected the towbar without confirming that the parking brake light on the NLG was on and a chock was placed in front of the NLG wheels. The investigation team has made four safety recommendations.
      
     "The investigation report was published by the AAIA with the objective of identifying the circumstances and causes of the serious incident with a view to preventing recurrence," an AAIA spokesperson said.
      
     Throughout the investigation, all parties concerned were properly consulted on the report. The report is available for download at the AAIA webpage (www.thb.gov.hk/aaia/eng/investigation_reports/index.htm).