<<There were 9.193 million 2G/2.5G/3G subscribers in Hong Kong at the end of Augist 2006 (latest data), giving a penetration rate in excess of 127%.>>
for the unaware readers, there are 7 mil population in HK, but 9 mil cellphone subscribers, for a few reasons, some good, others not as good:
- a few mainlanders maintain a hk subscription because they come and go, but can at most number perhaps 10-20 thousand
- a few hk folks maintain two phones, one blackberry thing, and another normal phone, for dual processing rigor, but can at most account for another 5 thousand folks
- enough hk folks maintain dual number sim card, with one hk number and another mainland number, for ease of travel roaming without incurring roaming charge - say 100,000 folks
- temporary visitors on pre-paid sim card may explain another few tens of thousands
- that leaves 2 million subscriptions unexplained, and must be explained by fact that lots of folks have two or even three plain vanila cellphone subscriptions for a whole lot of very few reasons, such as keeping girl friends and mistresses clearly filed |
