The Communications Authority (CA) today (1 December 2017) announced the creation of a new licensing regime for the provision of Wireless Internet of Things (WIoT) platforms and services using the shared frequency band of 920 – 925 MHz with a view to underpinning the preparation of Hong Kong for embracing the new era of Internet of Things (IoT) and the Fifth Generation (5G) mobile services, as well as various smart city applications in the future.
A spokesperson for the CA said, "IoT is an emerging technology which enables the provision of communications platforms and services for interconnected devices to generate, exchange and consume data with minimal human intervention. With the emergence of new generations of wireless and mobile technologies, massive implementation of IoT will become the trend. Hong Kong must prepare itself to keep up with this global trend. The CA, after consulting the industry via the advisory committee of the Office of the Communications Authority, decided to establish a new licensing regime to respond to the market development and the industry's requests in a timely manner."
"Since services to be authorised under this new WIoT Licence only support automated machine to machine type data communications, the CA is of the view that a licensing regime with less stringent regulatory control and lower licence fee as compared with the current carrier licence should be applied with a view to facilitating the development of these emerging and innovative services for the benefit of the Hong Kong community, " the spokesperson said.
The validity period of the WIoT Licence is five years and, subject to the discretion of the CA, may be extended for a further period of up to five years. The annual licence fee for the WIoT Licence consists of a fixed fee of HK$100,000 and variable fees based on the number of base stations and WIoT devices in use.
Any interested parties, including the existing telecommunications licensees, who intend to provide WIoT services with the use of the shared frequency band of 920 – 925 MHz may submit application to the CA for the new licence. The licence application guidelines and form could be found on the CA's website at http://www.coms-auth.hk/en/licensing/telecommunications/apply/index.html.
Communications Authority
1 December 2017