Universal Service Obligation (USO) and Service Coverage

Under licence conditions, PCCW-HKT Telephone Limited and Hong Kong Telecommunications (HKT) Limited has a USO, under which, basic services should be made reasonably available to all persons in Hong Kong, at service charges capped by the published tariffs. At present, the USO mainly covers basic fixed voice telephony services and public payphones. Broadband or mobile services are not covered under the USO, and the coverage of such services is mainly a commercial decision.

As for other fixed network operators, their service coverage is basically a commercial decision. That said, all fixed network operators are required under their licence conditions to provide service upon request of a customer if their networks have already been rolled out to the location concerned. For more details about service coverage of fixed network operators, please contact them direct. Please refer to "Choices of Service Providers" for their contact telephone numbers.

In order to facilitate competition and provide more choices to consumers, measures have been taken by the Government to encourage fixed network operators to roll out their networks. After the full liberalisation of the local fixed market in January 2003, there is no longer any limitation on the number of licences issued to fixed network operators. Furthermore, the Government policy to fully withdraw mandatory Type II interconnection at the exchange level by June 2008 has also helped to promote investment and consumer choice in high bandwidth customer access networks in telecommunications.