Hong Kong 3G licence auction postponed to September: official

HONG KONG (AFX-ASIA) - The auction of the third generation mobile service licences will be delayed to September from the initial target date of June due to the longer time needed to pass the necessary legislation in the Legislative Council, a government spokeswoman said.          She said the 3G licence auction can only be held after the necessary legislation is passed and gazzetted.          "If everything goes well and smoothly, then the 3G auction will be held in September."          Secretary for Information Technology and Broadcasting Bureau Carrie Yau was quoted by Chinese newspapers as saying that the delay was due to the longer-than-expected timetable to codify sub-rules for the 3G licences.          Yau said the government will not accept any further delay for the issue of the 3G licences, as a lot of developed countries have already issued their licences.          She said the postponement is unlikely to cause problems for the operators, as the 3G services will not be ready for commercial launch until next year.

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