With the installation of more than 5,000 Wi-Fi hotspots at around 3000 locations in the territory, Hong Kong is at the forefront of the world in the provision of public Wi-Fi service, according to the latest statistics published by Hong Kong's Office of the Telecommunications Authority.

"We are pleased to see such a rapid and massive rollout of public Wi-Fi service. Unlike other cities, where the public Wi-Fi service involves either public funding or coordination by governments, such service in Hong Kong is entirely funded by the commercial sector. This testifies once again the success of our market-driven policy. We look forward to this as one of the many initiatives to be taken forward by the commercial operators to further drive the development of Hong Kong as a wireless city," a spokesperson from OFTA said.

In order that the public may have updated information about the development and coverage of the public Wi-Fi service in Hong Kong, OFTA will regularly publish the statistics on the number of Wi-Fi hotspots and also their locations on its official website.

"Due to the expansion of public Wi-Fi service throughout the territory provided by the service operators and the Government's commitments to provide Wi-Fi service in some 350 government premises in the coming two years, there is growing concern about the radiofrequency (RF) radiation safety to the general public. Even though Wi-Fi devices emit very low level of RF radiation, OFTA has taken the initiative to conduct the first territory-wide measurement of the RF radiation emitted by Wi-Fi hotspots during the period from July to September this year," continued the spokesperson.

OFTA adopts the International Commission on Non-Ionising Radiation Protection Guidelines published in 1998 on the safety limits of exposure to RF radiation for the protection of workers and the public against non-ionizing radiation hazards, which were set out in a Code of Practice for compliance by the industry. According to OFTA's measurement results, the RF radiation levels of Wi-Fi hotspots installed at various public locations, including convenience shops, cafes, shopping malls, the airport, MTRC and KCRC stations, are far below the recommended RF exposure limits laid down in the ICNIRP Guidelines. According to the World Health Organization, until now, there is not yet any convincing scientific evidence to prove that the weak RF signals emitted by wireless networks will cause adverse health effects.

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