OFTA also hopes to put in place a mechanism that would allow it to arbitrate in disputes between operators and consumers.

The new warning system is in response to the chaos caused to Internet users when a massive earthquake off Taiwan on December 26 severed seven cables running along the Luzon Strait, which are used for 90 percent of Hong Kong's external Internet capacity.

Under the new system, operators will be tasked with contacting and advising users of any breakdowns. Reports will also need to be made to OFTA for regional situational assessment.

ADVERTISEMENT

"Operators have first-hand information about the operational status of their systems and should be responsible for providing prompt information to their customers about outages or degradation," OFTA director general Au Man-ho said.

Operators will also need to report to OFTA within a specified time to allow the authority to inform the public and provide guidance if the outages or degradation have significant and territory- wide implications.

Studies on the contingency plans of operators, back-up capacity and route diversity are being compiled by OFTA, which may also issue codes of practice and guidelines.

Au ruled out direct government investment or allocation of standby capacity as this would be contradictory to market forces.

However, the possibility of government aid in facilitating the procurement of further cable capacity or routes has been left open.

OFTA has also proposed setting up the Consumer Dispute Adjudication Scheme, which will give the authority the power to arbitrate contractual disputes between operators and consumers.

The authority is planning a pilot run for the start of the second quarter of this year, pending support from service providers.

Meanwhile, OFTA has announced that repair forecasts have been pushed back another month to the end of February, by which time all seven undersea telecommunication cables are expected to be in full working order.

Au blamed bad weather and technical problems for the delay, adding five cables should be partially repaired by Tuesday, with the remaining repairs to be done by mid-February.

"The damage to the cables has been extensive, and cable operators are having problems ordering spare parts for the repairs," Chan Tze-yee, OFTA's assistant director said.

Chan added the major Internet service providers were now approaching 100 percent recovery of their international capacity.

Internet connections in Asia still rank among the world's slowest, trailing North America by 380 milliseconds - or almost six times - according to the latest Internet Traffic Report, a global monitor of Internet traffic.