A History of Competition: The Impact of Antitrust on Hong Kong's Telecommunications Markets

34 Pages Posted: 21 Sep 2018 Last revised: 20 Nov 2018

See all articles by Sandra Marco Colino

Sandra Marco Colino

The Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK) - Faculty of Law; University of Glasgow, School of Law

Date Written: August 17, 2018

Abstract

Hong Kong has only had cross-sector competition law since 2015, but the city’s telecommunications markets have been subject to sector-specific antitrust provisions for over two decades. The importance of nurturing an efficient, innovative, and competitive telecoms industry for Hong Kong’s economic prosperity was acknowledged already at the time the sector was liberalized in the 1990s. Yet until the late 2000s, the government vehemently opposed the adoption of competition law in virtually all other sectors of the economy. This paper examines the effectiveness of the regulatory framework set up to guarantee the protection of competition in the telecommunications sector in Hong Kong. The results of the liberalization process are certainly remarkable, and the city boasts very competitive telecoms markets. However, it is argued that the enthusiasm over the results of the liberalization process may have eclipsed important competition issues in local markets which could have been tackled through the development of a robust antitrust policy, but which were sadly left unheeded. On the basis of the analysis of the history of (sector-specific) competition law in the telecoms sector, the paper assesses the potential of the new Competition Ordinance to address the principal threats to competition in these markets. In doing so, the paper finds that while the new regulatory framework may be generally suitable to combat collusion, it is less clear that it will effectively combat the problems associated with the creation of market power through mergers, or the abuse of that power.

Keywords: competition law, antitrust, telecommunications, Hong Kong, competitiveness, Internet, mobile telephony, fixed telephone services

JEL Classification: K00, K10, K21, K20, K23, L4, L40, L41, L43, L96

Suggested Citation

Marco Colino, Sandra, A History of Competition: The Impact of Antitrust on Hong Kong's Telecommunications Markets (August 17, 2018). Fordham Intellectual Property, Media & Entertainment Law Journal (2019), The Chinese University of Hong Kong Faculty of Law Research Paper No. 2018-14, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=3249105

Sandra Marco Colino (Contact Author)

The Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK) - Faculty of Law ( email )

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Shatin, New Territories
Kowloon, Sha Tin
Hong Kong

HOME PAGE: http://www.law.cuhk.edu.hk/en/people/info.php?id=31

University of Glasgow, School of Law ( email )

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Glasgow, G12 8QQ
United Kingdom

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