21.   The delay enabled the four existing operators to sign up hundreds of thousands of middle-class customers on whom the new operators were depending to survive.

22.   The department will manage the range, which it owns, on an interim basis until bids are taken for a new operator.

23.   The new operators, Brookhaven Science Associates, led by the State University of New York at Stony Brook, have said that environmental concerns are a top priority.

24.   The new long-distance operators, such as Avantel SA and Alestra SA, want to hook up selected clients through private circuits.

25.   The new operators were to begin service in March, but this has been pushed back to August, according to government officials.

26.   Tishman Speyer executives have said they are thinking about a new operator for the theater.

27.   A spokesman for the Berlin-based cartel office said the fixed pricing hindered new operators from joining the market because of the initial high costs.

28.   A new operator could be chosen as soon as mid-April.

29.   All necessary assistance would be provided to the new operator for service continuity, Commissioner of Transport Mrs Fanny Law Fan Chiu-fan said.

30.   Any new operators will use infrastructure set up by Hong Kong Telecom.