Hong Kong will issue licenses next year to allow both fixed and mobile phone firms to offer broadband wireless services, newspapers said on July 23, bringing "anytime, anywhere" Internet access closer to reality.
Under the new unified licensing system, all operators would be subject to the same regulations, said the South China Morning Post. Singapore, Australia and India already have a combined license system in place, said The Standard.
The city's Office of the Telecommunications Authority (Ofta) announcement comes amid increasing talk of convergence between fixed and mobile telecoms services, centred on wireless technologies such as WiMAX that would allow users to go online regardless of location using laptops, mobile phones or PDAs.