Landing of Submarine Cables in Hong Kong

General

1. This web site provides general information to parties who are interested in bringing new submarine cables to Hong Kong and covers the following major areas:

• Background Information;
• Application Procedures and Requirements for Unified Carrier Licence ("UCL") (External);
• Landing of Cables at Existing Cable Landing Stations ("CLS");
• Acquisition of Land for Building New CLS;
• Statutory Approvals for Laying of Submarine Cable and Landing at CLS;
• Site Sharing and Co-location of CLS with Affiliated Data Centre ("ADC"); and
• Single-Point-of-Contact Service.

2. The Office of the Telecommunications Authority ("OFTA") provides a single-point-of-contact service to assist parties who are interested in obtaining statutory approvals for laying submarine cables and landing them at an existing CLS, or to build a new CLS. They are welcome to contact the subject officer whose contact is given below:

Office of the Telecommunications Authority
29/F, Wu Chung House
213, Queen's Road East
Wanchai
Hong Kong
(Attn.: Senior Telecommunications Engineer, Regulatory Section 23)

Background Information

3. Since the liberalization of external facilities-based telecommunications market on 1 January 2000, Hong Kong has been adopting an open licensing regime i.e. there is no limit on the number of external fixed licences that OFTA will issue. Moreover, Hong Kong does not impose any foreign ownership restriction on the licensees.

4. As at April 2010, Hong Kong has nine submarine cable systems, namely, Asia-America Gateway Cable System ("AAG"), Asia Pacific Cable Network ("APCN"), Asia Pacific Cable Network 2 ("APCN-2"), EAC - C2C, FLAG Europe Asia ("FEA"), FLAG North Asia Loop ("FNAL") / REACH North Asia Loop ("RNAL"), Sea-Me-We 3 ("SMW3"), TGN-Intra Asia Cable System ("TGN-IA") and Thailand-Vietnam-Hong Kong ("TVH"). Several other systems are being planned.

5. There are six submarine CLS in Hong Kong (please see the Map below). Two CLS are at Tong Fuk, and the other four are at Deep Water Bay, Chung Hom Kok, Cape D'Aguilar and Tseung Kwan O.

Locations of Cable Landing Stations

6. For provision of cable-based external fixed service (see remark 1), an interested party is required to obtain a UCL (External) from OFTA. Details on how to apply for such a licence is given in the "Information Note on Licensing Arrangement for External Cable Operators" . Apart from leasing capacity on existing submarine cables for provision of service, a holder of UCL (External) (the "Operator") may also choose to land their own cables in Hong Kong, either by using an existing CLS or building a new CLS. The contact information of the existing CLS operators is as follows:

FLAG Telecom Asia Limited

GB21 (Hong Kong) Limited

Pacnet Global (HK) Limited

Reach Networks Hong Kong Limited and Reach Cable Networks Limited

7. Operators may have the operational requirement to construct a ring network interconnecting two or more CLS, or to connect a CLS with a data centre located elsewhere. To connect the various locations concerned, there is a need for the Operators to install and lay cables in the public streets and over public land. They may procure the service from Unified Carrier Licensees, Fixed Carrier Licensees and Fixed Telecommunications Network Services Licensees who are authorized to provide local fixed services. Alternatively, the Operators may consider applying to OFTA for self-provisioning of their own backhaul facilities. As the name implies, self-provisioned backhaul facilities are not to be used by any third party.

8. Relevant information concerning application for UCL (External), sharing of CLS, and the statutory approvals required for laying submarine cables and landing them at CLS is provided below.

Application Procedures and Requirements for UCL (External)

9. The "Information Note on Licensing Arrangement for External Cable Operators" is to assist interested parties in filing applications for the UCL (External). The Note outlines the application procedures, application requirements, broad licensing criteria and other information relevant to the application. There is no limit on the number of licences to be issued, or applications that OFTA may process each year. The applications will be considered as and when they are received.

10. While there is no prescribed format for the applications, they should be submitted in triplicate under confidential cover to OFTA at the following address. If possible, please also provide an electronic copy of the applications:

Office of the Telecommunications Authority
29/F, Wu Chung House
213, Queen's Road East
Wanchai
Hong Kong

(Attn.: Principal Regulatory Affairs Manager, Regulatory Section 13)

Landing of Cables at Existing CLS

11. Shared use of the existing CLS is permitted subject to the terms and conditions of the land grant, lease conditions and relevant statutory requirements. At present, space is available in some of the existing CLS for landing of new submarine cables. Interested parties may approach OFTA for more details and should directly negotiate with the CLS operators concerned for using the space and facilities. OFTA would provide assistance to facilitate their negotiations if the situation warrants.

 Acquisition of Land for Building New CLS

12. Vacant land at the Chung Hom Kok Teleport site has been set aside for the development of external telecommunications stations (see remark 2). Vacant land at the Tseung Kwan O Industrial Estate may also be made available for cable landing subject to the approval of the Hong Kong Science and Technology Parks Corporation ("HKSTP").

13. Interested parties who wish to apply for land to set up a new CLS may contact OFTA (see paragraphs 2, 16 and 17 about the single-point-of-contact service offered by OFTA). Alternatively, they may also submit their applications direct to the Lands Department (for land at the Chung Hom Kok Teleport site) or the HKSTP (for land at the Tseung Kwan O Industrial Estate). The contact information of the Lands Department and HKSTP is as follows:

District Lands Office / Hong Kong West and South
Lands Department

Hong Kong Science and Technology Parks Corporation

Statutory Approvals for Laying of Submarine Cables and Landing at CLS

14. There are established procedures and steps for obtaining approvals for laying submarine cables or building a new CLS. Details are given in the document "Information Note for External Fixed Carriers to Apply for Statutory Approvals for Laying of Submarine Cable and Landing at Cable Landing Station" . Interested parties may make use of OFTA's single-point-of-contact service (see paragraphs 2, 16 and 17 below). They may also send their applications direct to the relevant authorities.

Site Sharing and Co-location of CLS with ADC

15. Sharing of existing CLS with ADC (see remark 3) to support the submarine cable business may be permitted subject to the terms and conditions of the land grant, lease conditions and relevant statutory requirements. In the event of competing demand for space in the existing CLS, priority will be given to expansion of the submarine cable systems already landed at the CLS and landing of new submarine cable systems.

Single-Point-of-Contact Service

16. As set out in paragraph 2, OFTA provides a single-point-of-contact service to assist interested parties in applying for land to build new CLS and statutory approvals for laying submarine cables and landing at CLS.

17. Applicants may submit their applications together with the supporting information to OFTA, which will provide a centralized contact point coordinating the applicants with the relevant government departments and parties, such as Lands Department, Marine Department, HKSTP, Town Planning Board and Environmental Protection Department. While OFTA will offer appropriate assistance to the applicants during the process, the applicants shall be responsible for their applications and securing the necessary statutory approvals. They should provide the relevant government departments and parties with necessary information in a timely manner, and comply with the procedures and requirements that are laid down by these government departments and parties.

Remarks:

1. Some of the existing fixed carrier licensees and fixed telecommunications network services licensees are also allowed to provide cable-based external fixed service. With the implementation of the UCL from 1 August 2008, the Telecommunications Authority will no longer issue the fixed carrier licence and fixed telecommunications network services licence. New applicants are required to apply for the UCL (External) for the provision of cable-based external fixed service.

2. One of the lots is used for CLS and another is used for satellite earth station. Some other lots are being used for non-telecommunications purpose on a temporary basis.

3. ADC is a data centre which is mainly used to handle external traffic carried by the submarine cable systems landed at the relevant CLS.