| Vision, Mission and Values |
| Message from the Director-General | Highlights of the Year 2006/07 |
| Eye on the Future | Having Faith in the Market |
| Consumer Interest – Our Main Concern | Managing the Radio Spectrum and Ensuring Technical Excellence |
| Close Communications with the Industry and the Community | Committed to Service Excellence |
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Committed to Service Excellence During the year, we continued to review our manpower requirements and organisational structure to meet changing regulatory needs and the community's rising expectations for quality telecommunications services. Manpower support for our Information and Communications Technologies Division was strengthened, through both staff redeployment as well as the injection of new talent, to provide support services for the enactment of the Unsolicited Electronic Messages Ordinance and associated regulatory requirements. Our Regulatory Affairs Branch also underwent major redistribution of work and redeployment of staff to meet new service demands under the current market environment and policy framework. On the office management and administrative support front, we made every effort to minimise operating costs while optimising the use of resources. We continue to outsource various services, such as fitting-out works, building services maintenance, office cleaning, vehicle maintenance and security services, with a view to delivering services in the most cost-effective and efficient manner possible. The use of office equipment and energy consumption are also kept under constant review to save costs and improve efficiencies. A Versatile and Quality Workforce As at 31 March 2007, OFTA had a total staff complement of 313, consisting of 214 civil servants and 99 staff employed on non-civil service contract terms. This professional workforce is made up of staff members drawn from various fields of expertise. We maintain a flexible manpower policy, employing contract staff where and when appropriate. Staffing levels and the staff mix are also kept under regular review to ensure the best possible services to the community. Fostering Staff Relations and Promoting Staff Communications Our Departmental Consultative Committee (DCC) continues to serve as an effective communications channel between management and staff members. Chaired personally by the Director-General and attended by staff representatives from various offices, the Committee holds regular meetings which provide a useful forum for senior management and staff to exchange views on areas of concern and common interest. Our quarterly departmental newsletter, OFTA EXPRESS, also serves to improve communications and understanding among staff members. In addition to keeping staff informed of recent events and activities, it also provides a platform for staff to share their views, interests and personal experiences with their colleagues. To promote a better balance between work and life and to cultivate stronger ties among colleagues, we organise diverse recreational activities for our staff on a regular basis. Activities organised during the year include a lunchtime health talk, an autumn outing to the Hong Kong Wetland Park, a barbecue day, a photo competition as well as an annual dinner-cum-Christmas party. The OFTA team also took part in various charity events – ranging from the Community Chest Corporate Challenge to various marathon walks and other races – to show our care and concern for the less fortunate. Awards and Commendations Making sure that we show our appreciation to our staff for their hard work and particularly when they have shown exemplary conduct, a high degree of achievement or service excellence, we present a number of awards, acknowledgements and commendations. During the year, 15 staff members and one work team received the Director-General's Commendation for Meritorious Service, 25 officers received the Long and Meritorious/Valuable Service Award, two officers received the Long and Meritorious Service Travel Award and four of our Drivers received 2006 Safe Driving Awards. Pursuing Excellence We are committed to building a dynamic and responsive staff team capable of meeting new challenges and service demands as they arise in the regulation of Hong Kong's dynamic and ever-evolving telecommunications market. To this end, we place a high priority on staff training at all levels, providing training opportunities to update skills and allow our people to keep pace with the advent of new technologies and to enhance their versatility and management capabilities. In 2006/07, we invested $2 million in staff training. Our staff enjoy a wide spectrum of training opportunities ranging from vocational and technical training, management and leadership enhancement programmes to language and communication courses as well as national studies programmes. Apart from enrolling staff in training courses offered locally, we continue to sponsor staff attendance at regulatory and management training programmes outside Hong Kong, notably in the USA, Australia and the UK. In 2006/07, staff attended overseas training programmes run by the Australian Communications and Media Authority; an Executive Development Course on Negotiation and Competitive Decision Making at Harvard University; international training courses on utility regulation and strategy run by the University of Florida; as well as the postgraduate diploma course on EC Competition Law run by King's College, University of London. A number of in-house workshops and seminars also keep staff updated on specific topics such as competition and telecommunication laws, new telecommunications technologies, computer forensic training, presentation and public speaking skills and media handling. During the year, 764 staff members enrolled in our training programmes receiving a total of some 1,500 man-days of training. Outperforming Our Targets In the year under review, we either achieved or surpassed our performance targets in 25 out of 26 service areas. In 2007/08, we are aiming to maintain these high standards of service. In addition, we have enhanced the performance target for the handling of consumer complaints and made a new pledge with regard to the handling of industry complaints. Further details of our performance in 2006/07 and our pledge for 2007/08 appear in Appendix D of this report. We will continue to review our performance indicators and targets to ensure the effective measuring and monitoring of our services. Caring for the Environment We are committed to conducting our daily operations and activities in an environmentally friendly and responsible manner. Speeding up the process and saving paper at the same time, we launched a number of on-line services. This new development makes it easier for members of the public and telecommunications operators to submit licence applications, conduct other business or obtain various items of information through the Internet. Electronic processes such as e-mail, e-fax and e-filing systems, are widely used within OFTA to facilitate the sharing and flow of information. We also upload electronic versions of our reports, consultation papers and publications on our web site, significantly reducing the need for printed copies. These activities have all contributed positively to the promotion of a "paperless" office. We continue our procurement of green supplies and environmentally friendly products such as recycled wood-free paper and rechargeable batteries. We also participate in recycling programmes such as the recycling of paper, toner cartridges, compact discs and batteries. With the support of our staff, we were able to make the following achievements during the year:
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