Hong Kong – PCCW proved the sole bidder for Hong Kong’s fifth third-generation (3G) CDMA mobile service license. The Office of the Telecommunications Authority declared PCCW won the license after meeting pre-qualification requirements. PCCW is currently designated as the Provisional Successful Bidder, which will be changed to Successful Bidder upon payment of the government’s HK$76 million (US$ 9.8 million) Spectrum Utilization Fee and a Performance Bond to the Telecommunication Authority by Nov. 27. Licensing terms mean PCCW must provide CDMA2000 coverage to urban areas as well as within road tunnels, on railways and inside the airport starting Nov. 20, 2008. PCCW, through its majority share in Sunday Communications, is one of four companies providing 3G mobile services in the city based on the European GSM standard, WCDMA. PCCW had 119,000 3G subscribers at end June 2007.