Try again: Govt re-issues contract for fast broadband to islands
The Hong Kong government has re-issued the tender for rural broadband network construction in the outlying islands.
The original tender, issued last June, attracted no bidders.
Ofca is seeking a local fixed-line telecom company to build optical fibre links to the edge of rural villages in the four outlying islands – Lantau, Lamma, Cheung Chau and Peng Chau.
It also requires construction of three undersea fibre links – from Lamma to Hong Kong Island, Cheung Chau to Lantau, and Peng Chau to Lantau.
Currently, only Lantau has a fibre connection to Hong Kong island.
Ofca said the successful bidder would be required to make available up “at least half of the capacity” of the new infrastructure to other operators for free.
The tender is part of a HK$774 million government scheme to deliver high-speed broadband to 235 rural Hong Kong villages.
Lantau Confidential 
Virtually every other press release from the Hong Kong Government’s clueless “Information Services Department” (previously known as GIS – the “Government Information Services” uses the word “innovation.” Often a half dozen times in a single press release. Interesting fact: More than 10 years ago, the entire nation of South Korea was able to be wired, so that the entire country now enjoys high-speed “WiFi.” Yet, our incredibly incompentent Government still can’t get HK’s tiny 400 sg miles on line? They can spend billions of $US on a bridge to Macau that hardly anyone uses. and you they can’t money to lay a simple undersea cable across a few kilometres of water? This is just yet another example, of why we Hong Kongers need to be able to vote in our own leaders.