Hong Kong provides the most economical local broadband access services in the Asia Pacific region, according to a study report released by the Asia Pacific Carriers’ Coalition (APCC) affirming Hong Kong’s position as the premier telecommunications hub in the region.

The study findings note that the prices of broadband -leased lines in Hong Kong at transmission speeds of 1.5 Mbps, 2 Mbps, 45 Mbps and 155 Mbps are the lowest among the 14 economies included in the study. In terms of Ethernet access facilities, Hong Kong’s prices are the lowest at transmission speeds of 10 Mbps and 1 Gbps. The price for a symmetric digital subscriber line (DSL) in Hong Kong is likewise the most competitive. The study also shows that the prices of the various categories of local leased lines in Hong Kong have fallen on average by 30% to 50% between 2006 and 2009.            

A spokesman of the Office of the Telecommunications Authority (OFTA) said that the city’s excellent telecommunications infrastructure — with cost-effective international telecommunications connections and associated local access facilities — underpin the premier position of Hong Kong as a regional financial and trading hub and as the preferred city for the regional headquarters of multinational corporations.  

“The confluence of key information technology segments, such as data centre operators and content service providers, also rely on competitively priced and reliable telecommunications connections within the region and beyond,” he said.

The spokesman added that the study confirms once again the success of Hong Kong’s facility-based competition and market-driven approach, which began with the liberalization of the local fixed market in 1995 and was followed by the liberalization of the external facility market in 2000.  

“While there are 12 local wireline-based fixed carriers in Hong Kong providing local access services, 29 cable-based external carriers are also operating here,” the OFTA spokesman noted. “These external carriers may make use of the local access services provided by the local fixed carriers, or they may choose to build their own backhaul facilities after acquiring the appropriate telecommunications license from this office.”

The APCC commissioned the consultant TRPC to conduct the local access price benchmarking study for the Asia Pacific region in 2009. The study compares the prices of local leased lines, Ethernet access facilities and DSL in 14 economies: Australia, China, Hong Kong, Indonesia, India, Japan, Malaysia, New Zealand, the Philippines, Singapore, South Korea, Taiwan, Thailand and Vietnam.

The APCC was formed in 2004 to promote and assist in the development of open-market policies and telecommunications regulatory frameworks in the Asia Pacific region. Its membership comprises the major global and regional telecommunications carriers operating in this region.

The full report can be found on the APCC Web site.