Hong Kong's Office of the Telecommunications Authority announced that the application of the annual number fee will be extended to public radio paging and mobile virtual network services on June 1, 2009.

The license fee for each mobile station will also be reduced from HKD18 to HKD8 per year. Public radio paging and mobile virtual network service operators will therefore pay less license fee if they utilize the telecommunications numbers allocated to them more efficiently.

"Telecommunications number is a limited public resource. To encourage efficient use of numbers and to extend the life span of the current 8-digit numbering plan, number fee as a component of the annual license fee for each allocated number has already been applied to service-based operators and unified carrier licensees. For the sake of consistency and fairness, the Telecommunications Authority decides that public radio paging and mobile virtual network service operators will also be subject to the number fee after consultation with the industry," a spokesperson from OFTA stated in a press release.

The new license fee will be implemented with effect from June 1, 2009. This should allow sufficient lead-time for the public radio paging and mobile virtual network service operators to make the necessary preparation for the return of their idle numbers to OFTA.