Hikers, beware! You may not be able to reach out for emergency help while trekking in some of the country parks and outlying islands even if you have a mobile phone. For these places are blind spots for the Hong Kong telephone network.

A survey, initiated by the office of Legislative Councillor Kevin Li Kwok-ying, of the Democratic Alliance for Betterment and Progress of Hong Kong, released yesterday showed blind reception spots on the outlying islands, Sai Kung and the border with the mainland.

Some parts of Lamma and Lantau islands, more than 20 sites in Sai Kung, a popular hiking destination with two country parks - Sai Kung East and Sai Kung West - and almost 90 per cent of Sha Tau Kok and Ta Kwu Ling areas are out of local transmission centres' reach.

The survey collected data from 30 local hiking groups, said Eric Tam of DAB's hiking safety concern group. He revealed that some of the blind spots are in the perimeter of hiking trails recommended by the Agriculture, Fisheries and Conservation Department (AFCD) such as Luk Wu and Hoi Ha.

In such areas, mobile phones will consume twice as much battery power to search for a stronger network and thus reduce the time available for use and jeopardize the lives of the hikers in need of emergency help.

An Office of the Telecommunications Authority (OFTA) spokesperson, however, said: "Having blind spots in such areas is inevitable." Though OFTA concedes that its network in Sai Kung east and north are "not ideal" but "because of the characteristics of wireless radio waves transfer, it would be very costly to construct transmission stations in areas with such landscape. It could also lead to environmental damage".

Nonetheless, OFTA has pledged to continue improving its services.With AFCD's collaboration, it has built seven transmission stations, including one in Yuen Ng Fan, near the High Island Reservoir. Two more are under construction, with one in Hung Uk, near the Clear Water Bay Country Park.

At present, the territory's country parks have 102 emergency and 100 public phones.

To encourage service providers to improve the mobile phone network, the government has been charging them HK$1 a year as a nominal rent for the space their infrastructures occupy in the country parks.

The survey also shows that in about 80 per cent of the 22 border sites, mobile phone networks will automatically switch to mainland service providers such as China Mobile if the user has an international roaming service. Eight of the sites, including several spots at Wu Kau Tang, hardly receive any signal.

Warwick Wan, of the DAB's border development concern group, said Chief Executive Donald Tsang had, in the Poicy Address, advocated "border development" in places such as Sha Tau Kok. But, Wan said, "if telecommunication services remain so inadequate, how could the area be developed efficiently"?

The OFTA spokesman responded, saying the telecommunications authority had been cooperating with mainland departments to improve services.

So what do hikers do till then? Be careful. Carry a first-aid kit. Avoid trekking in bad weather. Never go hiking alone. And leave a route map of their hiking site with someone before venturing outdoors.

(HK Edition 10/18/2005 page2)