Hong Kong's Office of the Telecommunications Authority announced today that as of October 12, the expiration date for bidding of radio spectrum for the provision of CDMA 2000 mobile services, only one application was received and it was from PCCW-HKT Telephone Limited.

"PCCW-HKT has met all the pre-qualification requirements. Since PCCW-HKT is the only applicant and has met the pre-qualification requirements, it is the Provisional Successful Bidder under the terms and conditions of the auction. PCCW-HKT is required to pay to the Government the Spectrum Utilization Fee of HK$76 million and provide to the Telecommunications Authority (TA) a Performance Bond of HK$150 million by 27 November 2007 before it will be declared as the Successful Bidder," a spokesperson from OFTA said in a press release.

"With the grant of the new CDMA2000 licence, visitors to and the residents in Hong Kong will be able to enjoy advanced CDMA mobile services, including CDMA roaming services. This will strengthen Hong Kong's strategic position as a world city and the gateway between Mainland China and the world," said the spokesperson.

CDMA2000 is also known as IMT-CDMA Multi-Carrier or 1xRTT. It is a CDMA version of the IMT-2000 standard developed by the International Telecommunication Union.