Hong Kong Telecoms Market Report

Telecoms, Mobile and Broadband - Statistics and Analyses

Last updated: 21 Dec 2021 Update History

Report Pages: 151

Analyst: Sebastien De Rosbo

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Summary
Table Of Contents

Hong Kong’s telecom sector faces an uphill battle keeping the #1 spot in Asia

Thanks to the combination of having a highly liberalised regulatory environment, very high-density housing spread across a small geographical area, and its strategic location at the southern tip of China, Hong Kong’s telecommunications sector continues to stay near the top of world rankings for the industry. It has kept its #1 spot in the Asian region in terms of the maturity of its telecom market – a reflection of the high penetration rates across mobile, mobile broadband, and fixed broadband. Even fixed-line teledensity in Hong Kong is impressive at over 50%, although it too has started a gradual decline in keeping with most other telecom markets around the world, as consumers slowly transition over to the mobile platform for all of their communication needs.

Darker skies may be forming on the horizon, however. As China tightens its grip on the sovereignty of the territory and imposes political, commercial, and social restrictions that were absent during the British Colonial era, Hong Kong is starting to see its potency as a regional if not global force being eaten away by countries such as Singapore that now offer much greater freedom to operate.

Concerns over national security prompted the US Departments of Justice, Homeland Security, and Defense to prevent the branch line of the newly completed Pacific Light Cable Network (PLCN) linking Los Angeles with Taiwan from being lit. And ongoing issues with the deployment of Huawei technology inside the core infrastructure of telecom networks (something that has been done extensively in Hong Kong, including in its 5G networks) means that the territory – along with its telecom sector – may become increasingly isolated from the rest of the world. Consequently, Hong Kong is likely to drop back from its position as a regional and global leader in the telecom market.

This report update includes the regulator’s market data to July 2021, telcos’ operating data to Q2 2021, Telecom Maturity Index charts and analyses, an assessment of the global impact of Covid-19 on the telecoms sector, and other recent market developments.

Key Developments

Google and Facebook abandon the Hong Kong leg of the Pacific Light Cable Network following objections by the US Departments of Justice, Homeland Security, and Defense.
OFCA auctions a further 255MHz of spectrum for 5G use while opening public consultations on reassigning 90MHz of spectrum in the 2.5GHz range from LTE to 5G.
Pay TV and fixed broadband operator i-Cable is taken over by New World Development’s Chairman Henry Cheng Kar-shun.

Key companies mentioned in this report:

Hong Kong Telecom (HKT), Hutchison Telecom (Hutchison 3), SmarTone, China Mobile Hong Kong (CMHK), Hong Kong Broadband Network (HKBN), i-Cable, HGC Global Communications.

Key statistics
Regional Asia market comparison

Market characteristics
Market Leaders
Market Challengers
Market Emergents
TMI vs GDP
Mobile and mobile broadband penetration
Fixed versus mobile broadband penetration

Country overview
Covid-19 and its impact on the telecom sector

Economic considerations and responses
Subscribers
Infrastructure

Telecommunications market
Regulatory environment

Regulatory authority
Fixed-line developments

Telecom Sector Liberalisation
Universal Service Obligation (USO)
Digital 21 IT Strategy
Fibre infrastructure to villages
Number Portability (NP)

Mobile network developments

Spectrum
Mobile Number Portability (MNP)

Mobile market

Mobile infrastructure

5G
4G
3G
2G
Mobile voice

Mobile broadband
Major mobile operators

Hong Kong Telecom (HKT)
Hutchison Telecom (Hutchison 3)
SmarTone
China Mobile Hong Kong
Mobile Virtual Network Operators (MVNO)

Fixed-line broadband market

Fixed broadband service providers
Digital Subscriber Line (DSL) networks
Hybrid Fibre Coax (HFC) networks
Fibre-to-the-Premises (FttP) networks

Hong Kong Broadband Network (HKBN)
Hong Kong Telecom (HKT)
i-Cable

Other fixed broadband services

Wi-Fi

Fixed network market

Major network operators
Hong Kong Telecom (HKT)
HKBN
Hutchison Telecom Hong Kong Holdings (HTHKH)
HGC Global Communications
i-Cable

Telecommunications infrastructure

International infrastructure

Submarine cable networks
Satellite

Data centres
Smart infrastructure

Smart Cities
IoT

Digital economy

E-Government

Appendix – Historic data
Glossary of abbreviations
Related reports

List of Tables

Table 1 – Top Level Country Statistics and Telco Authorities – Hong Kong – 2021 (e)
Table 2 – Development of telecom market revenue and investment (HK$ million) – 2011 – 2020
Table 3 – Change in the number of fixed numbers ported – 2011 – 2021
Table 4 – Change in the number of mobile numbers ported – 2011 – 2021
Table 5 – Growth in the number of mobile subscribers and penetration – 2011 – 2026
Table 6 – Growth in the number of mobile broadband subscribers and penetration – 2011 – 2026
Table 7 – Growth in the number of HKT’s mobile subscribers by type (million) – 2010 – 2021
Table 8 – Development of HKT’s mobile financial data (HK$ million) – 2010 – 2021
Table 9 – Change in the number of 3 Hutchison’s mobile subscribers (million) – 2011 – 2021
Table 10 – Development of Hutchison 3’s financial data (HK$ million) – 2011 – 2021
Table 11 – Development of Hutchison 3’s revenue by type (HK$ million) – 2011 – 2021
Table 12 – Development of Hutchison 3’s annualized postpaid ARPU, AMPU and churn – 2012 – 2021
Table 13 – Growth in the number of SmarTone’s mobile subscribers – 2009 – 2021
Table 14 – Development of SmarTone’s financial data (HK$ million) – 2009 – 2021
Table 15 – Change in SmarTone’s mobile ARPU – 2009 – 2021
Table 16 – MVNO subscribers – 2011 – 2021
Table 17 – Growth in the number of fixed broadband subscribers and penetration – 2011 – 2026
Table 18 – Growth in the number of residential/business broadband subscribers (million) – 2011 – 2021
Table 19 – Increase in fixed broadband traffic – 2011 – 2020
Table 20 – Growth in the number of HKBN’s broadband subscribers – 2010 – 2021
Table 21 – Development of HKBN’s fixed broadband ARPU (HK$/month) – 2014 – 2021
Table 22 – Development of HKBN’s financial data (HK$ million) – 2014 – 2021
Table 23 – Growth in the number of HKT’s fixed broadband subscribers (thousand) – 2011 – 2021
Table 24 – Growth in the number of HKT’s fibre broadband subscribers – 2011 – 2021
Table 25 – Growth in the number of public Wi-Fi access points and Wi-Fi zones – 2011 – 2021
Table 26 – Decline in the number of fixed lines and penetration – 2011 – 2026
Table 27 – Growth in the number of HKBN’s networked premises – 2014 – 2021
Table 28 – Change in the number of i-Cable’s subscribers by service (thousand) – 2011 – 2021
Table 29 – Increase in international bandwidth – 2010 – 2020
Table 30 – Growth in equipped and activated internet bandwidth capacity (Tb/s) – 2010 – 2021
Table 31 – Growth in equipped and activated satellite bandwidth capacity (Gb/s) – 2010 – 2021
Table 32 – Historic - Fixed numbers ported – 2005 – 2010
Table 33 – Historic - Total mobile numbers ported – 2000 – 2010
Table 34 – Historic - Mobile subscribers, annual change and penetration – 1984 – 2010
Table 35 – Historic - HKT prepaid and postpaid subscribers (million) – 2005 – 2008
Table 36 – Historic - 3 Hutchison mobile subscribers (million) – 1998 – 2010
Table 37 – Historic - 3 Hutchison - mobile subscribers 2G and 3G postpaid and total – 2008 – 2014
Table 38 – Historic - China Mobile Hong Kong - subscribers – 2007 – 2010
Table 39 – Historic - MVNO subscribers – 2007 – 2010
Table 40 – Historic - Fixed broadband subscribers and penetration – 2000 – 2010
Table 41 – Historic - Fixed broadband residential / business internet subscribers – 2000 – 2010
Table 42 – Historic - Residential broadband subscriptions by technology platform (thousand) – 2010 – 2014
Table 43 – Historic - Residential broadband ARPU – 2010 – 2013
Table 44 – Historic - HKT broadband subscribers (thousand) – 2007 – 2010
Table 45 – Historic - Wi-Fi access points and Wi-Fi zones – 2007 – 2010
Table 46 – Historic - i-Cable subscribers per service – 2002 – 2010
Table 47 – Historic - Fixed lines in service and penetration – 2007 – 2010
Table 48 – Historic - Fixed-line telephony subscribers (million) – 2000 – 2010

List of Charts

Chart 1 – Asia Telecoms Maturity Index – Market Leaders
Chart 2 – Asia Telecoms Maturity Index – Market Challengers
Chart 3 – Asia Telecoms Maturity Index – Market Emergents
Chart 4 – Asia – Telecoms Maturity Index vs GDP per capita
Chart 5 – Asia – Mobile subscriber penetration vs mobile broadband penetration
Chart 6 – Northern Asia – Mobile subscriber penetration vs mobile broadband penetration
Chart 7 – Northern Asia – Fixed and mobile broadband penetration
Chart 8 – Development of telecom market revenue and investment – 2011 – 2020
Chart 9 – Change in the number of fixed numbers ported – 2011 – 2021
Chart 10 – Change in the number of mobile numbers ported – 2011 – 2021
Chart 11 – Growth in the number of mobile subscribers and penetration – 2011 – 2026
Chart 12 – Growth in the number of mobile broadband subscribers and penetration – 2011 – 2026
Chart 13 – Growth in the number of HKT’s mobile subscribers by type – 2010 – 2021
Chart 14 – Development of HKT’s mobile financial data – 2010 – 2021
Chart 15 – Change in the number of 3 Hutchison’s mobile subscribers – 2011 – 2021
Chart 16 – Development of Hutchison 3’s financial data – 2011 – 2021
Chart 17 – Development of Hutchison 3’s revenue by type – 2016 – 2021
Chart 18 – Development of Hutchison 3’s annualized postpaid ARPU, AMPU and churn – 2012 – 2021
Chart 19 – Growth in the number of SmarTone’s mobile subscribers – 2009 – 2021
Chart 20 – Development of SmarTone’s financial data – 2009 – 2021
Chart 21 – Change in SmarTone’s mobile ARPU – 2009 – 2021
Chart 22 – MVNO subscribers – 2011 – 2021
Chart 23 – Growth in the number of fixed broadband subscribers and penetration – 2011 – 2026
Chart 24 – Growth in the number of residential/business broadband subscribers – 2011 – 2021
Chart 25 – Increase in fixed broadband traffic – 2011 – 2020
Chart 26 – Growth in the number of HKBN’s broadband subscribers – 2010 – 2021
Chart 27 – Development of HKBN’s fixed broadband ARPU – 2014 – 2021
Chart 28 – Development of HKBN’s financial data – 2014 – 2021
Chart 29 – Growth in the number of HKT’s fixed broadband subscribers – 2011 – 2021
Chart 30 – Growth in the number of HKT’s fibre broadband subscribers – 2011 – 2021
Chart 31 – Growth in the number of public Wi-Fi access points and Wi-Fi zones – 2011 – 2021
Chart 32 – Decline in the number of fixed lines and penetration – 2011 – 2026
Chart 33 – Change in the number of i-Cable’s subscribers by service – 2011 – 2021
Chart 34 – Increase in international bandwidth – 2010 – 2020
Chart 35 – Growth in equipped and activated internet bandwidth capacity – 2010 – 2021
Chart 36 – Growth in equipped and activated satellite bandwidth capacity – 2010 – 2021

List of Exhibits

Exhibit 1 – Map of Telecom Maturity Index global ranking among countries in Asia
Exhibit 2 – Generalised Market Characteristics by Market Segment
Exhibit 3 – Asia – Market Leaders and market developments
Exhibit 4 – Asia – Market Challengers and market developments
Exhibit 5 – Asia – Market Emergents and market developments
Exhibit 6 – 2.5GHz auction results – 2009
Exhibit 7 – 2.3GHz auction results – 2011
Exhibit 8 – 3.3GHz auction results - 2019
Exhibit 9 – 3.5GHz auction results - 2019
Exhibit 10 – 4.9GHz auction results - 2019
Exhibit 11 – HTHKH’s frequency allocations
Exhibit 12 – SmarTone spectrum holdings
Exhibit 13 – Fixed carrier licensees
Exhibit 14 – Major submarine cables with landing points in Hong Kong

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Paul, May I congratulate you on a very successful and enjoyable afternoon with the Minister. In providing the roundtable discussions between government and industry, it highlighted the strong interest by stakeholders in Broadband and its implementation but it also presented us with other issues and opportunities that we need to address.

Dominic Schipano, CITT

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BuddeComm's strategic business reports contain a combination of both primary and secondary research statistics, analyses written by our senior analysts supported by a network of experts, industry contacts and researchers from around the world as well as our own scenario forecasts.

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Hong Kong Telecoms Market Report

Telecoms, Mobile and Broadband - Statistics and Analyses

Purchase this Report

Hong Kong’s telecom sector faces an uphill battle keeping the #1 spot in Asia

Key Developments

Key companies mentioned in this report:

Key statistics

Regional Asia market comparison

Country overview

Covid-19 and its impact on the telecom sector

Telecommunications market

Regulatory environment

Mobile market

Fixed-line broadband market

Fixed network market

Telecommunications infrastructure

Digital economy

Appendix – Historic data

Glossary of abbreviations

Related reports

Purchase this Report

Share this Report

Purchase with Confidence

Research Methodology

Hot Topics

News & Views