2015 Hong Kong - Telecoms, Mobile and Broadband

Affordable and accessible broadband underpins the digital economy

Hong Kong’s telecom market continues to develop in line with its status as one of the leading economies in the world. Heading towards 2016, over two thirds of fixed broadband connections are fibre, with the remainder a mix of DSL and HFC. This has propelled Hong Kong to boast the highest peak average broadband speeds in the world, surpassing South Korea, Singapore and Japan.

Broadband proliferation is not just limited to fixed broadband, with three quarters of the population owning a smartphone. With such widespread access to broadband services it is little wonder that Hong Kong has developed a vibrant digital economy, where over half the population has accessed e-government services and the country’s healthcare system has launched a personal healthcare record, giving patients control over their data and supporting effective and efficient provision of healthcare services. Digital media, often the frontrunner of any digital economy, is well entrenched in Hong Kong with both legal and illegal streaming music and video in high demand.

The benefits of integrating technology into utilities is becoming evident; smart grid trials have shown consumers are willing to modify electricity consumption patterns in response to near real time feedback about usage. At the same time the government has taken the first steps towards coordinated development of a smart city, releasing a blueprint to oversee integration of technology into all aspects of everyday life to improve liveability and sustainability.

Underpinning delivery of these new digital economy services is increasing affordability and sophistication of end user devices and IOT connected sensors as well as continual investment in network infrastructure to connect devices reliably and with minimal delay, through new submarine cables as well as integration of new mobile related technologies designed to improve wireless broadband capacity and service quality.

Key Developments:

• Hong Kong expands international connectivity with submarine cable AAE-1 to go live in 2016
• Operators will leverage past investment in WiFi networks and IMS by expanding Voice over WiFi (VoWiFi) in 2016
• Hong Kong has implemented a strategy to facilitate the development of data centres in Hong Kong
• Fibre accounts for over half of all broadband subscriptions and will account for an increasing proportion of total subscriptions.
• Electronic healthcare record launched
• Over half the population has accessed e-government services
• Smart grid trials show consumers adapt behaviour when given feedback on electricity usage
• A smart city blueprint has been created for East Kowloon
• Strong adoption of 3G and LTE;
• Operators increase network speeds through deployment of TDD and FDD aggregation technology;
• Increasing data downloads with the average data downloaded per subscriber now exceeding 1GB.

Companies mentioned in this report:

PCCW; Hong Kong Broadband Network; Hutchison Telecom Hong Kong, i-Cable; SmarTone; NOW TV; TVB; ATV; KKBox; Soliton; Spotify.