Hong Kong coverage

What the Hong Kong numbers mean

Two numbers matter and only one of them is the one every seller quotes. The typical speed, 92 Mbps, tells you what a good moment looks like.

The tenth percentile, 29 Mbps, is the one that matters. It is the speed in the worst tenth of the day, when the cell above the station is full and everybody around you is on it too. A country with a high median and a low floor is a country that works beautifully right up until the moment you actually need it.

If the trip depends on video calls or tethering, plan around the busy figure rather than the typical one.

What happens in Hong Kong when the network is busy

Congestion is not a fault, it is a Tuesday evening. The question is what your eSIM can do about it, and for most travel eSIMs the answer is nothing: one wholesale agreement per country, one network, and no way out except buying a second eSIM from somebody else while standing in the street.

Here, Orbislo traffic runs over CSL and SmarTone. When the network you are on degrades we move you to another one, mid trip, without you asking, and tell you afterwards rather than interrupting you at the time.

Mobile operators in Hong Kong

• HKT (csl, 1O1O): HKT reported 2.2 million 5G post-paid customers at the end of June 2026, 62 percent of its post-paid base and 16 percent more than a year earlier. Its inbound roaming revenue rose 28 percent in the first half of 2026 as visitor arrivals increased.
• 3HK (Hutchison): Hutchison Telecommunications Hong Kong ended 2025 with 8.13 million customers in Hong Kong, 6.84 million of them prepaid after its prepaid base grew 116 percent in a year. Its post-paid base was about 1.3 million, with a 5G penetration rate of 62 percent.
• SmarTone: SmarTone counted 3,158,000 customers at the end of December 2025, 10 percent more than a year earlier. It has also moved 3.5 GHz 5G into 15 MTR stations, covering tunnels, platforms and concourses, with more stations to follow.

Older networks in Hong Kong

• All four established operators have switched 2G off: Hutchison on 30 September 2021, SmarTone on 14 October 2022, HKT on 8 November 2024 and China Mobile Hong Kong on 23 June 2026. China Mobile Hong Kong also closed its 3G network on 30 June 2025.
• The Communications Authority approved China Mobile Hong Kong's request to end 3G because very few customers were affected, including 3G prepaid users, and required the operator to keep 3G running properly until the closing date.
• SmarTone has the Communications Authority's consent to end 3G on 9 October 2026. The closure also affects customers using older 4G handsets that support only the earlier version of VoLTE, the technology that carries calls over 4G.
• The regulator expects the remaining operators to close 3G progressively on commercial grounds, and more than 99 percent of Hong Kong mobile users already use 4G or 5G.

5G in Hong Kong

• Commercial 5G started on 1 April 2020. By the end of March 2025 the regulator put 5G coverage above 99 percent, including all populated districts, major shopping malls and MTR stations, with 3,630 MHz assigned across the 700 MHz, 3.3, 3.5, 4.9, 6/7 and 26/28 GHz bands.
• The 3.5 GHz auction of October 2019 raised HK$1.006 billion for 200 MHz. China Mobile Hong Kong took 3400 to 3460 MHz, HKT 3460 to 3510 MHz, SmarTone 3510 to 3560 MHz and Hutchison 3560 to 3600 MHz, each for 15 years from 1 April 2020.
• An October 2021 auction sold 255 MHz for HK$1.8765 billion. It split the 700 MHz band among all four operators and gave China Mobile Hong Kong 4800 to 4840 MHz and SmarTone 4920 to 4960 MHz in the 4.9 GHz band.
• In November 2024 Hong Kong held the world's first auction of 6/7 GHz spectrum for public mobile service. China Mobile Hong Kong, HKT and SmarTone each won 100 MHz for HK$210 million, for 5G now and 6G later, with 15 year assignments starting by 31 March 2025.
• In August 2024 the Communications Authority assigned a further 1,200 MHz of millimetre wave spectrum in the 26 GHz and 28 GHz bands to China Mobile Hong Kong, HKT, Hutchison and SmarTone for 5G service.
• SmarTone launched 5G on 26 May 2020 using Ericsson's dynamic spectrum sharing on its LTE network, deploying 3.5 GHz progressively. Its first stage covered most outdoor locations, popular indoor venues and major roads and highways.
• A November 2024 auction reassigned 110 MHz in the 850/900 MHz and 2.3 GHz bands to all four operators for HK$2,242.5 million. Winners may keep using it for 4G or refarm it for 5G and later 6G.

Network notes for Hong Kong

• The regulator counted five mobile network operators and 26 mobile virtual network operators in August 2026. Hong Kong had 34,079,706 mobile subscriptions in May 2026, and a subscriber penetration rate of 435.8 percent that excludes machine connections.
• Hilly terrain leaves blind spots in the countryside. The regulator surveyed coverage along popular hiking trails and publishes maps of it, marking public payphones and free emergency helplines, and the government advises hikers to carry a spare battery and keep one phone in each group switched off.
• A subsidy scheme launched in July 2025 funds about 50 new base stations in country parks, outlying islands and other remote areas. Once they are running, coverage is expected to reach at least 90 percent of country parks and 98 percent or more of major government hiking trails.
• Hong Kong is served by 13 submarine cable systems as of July 2026, landing at ten stations: three at Chung Hom Kok, three at Tseung Kwan O, two at Tong Fuk, and one each at Cape D'Aguilar and Deep Water Bay.
• Two new submarine cables entered service in 2025: the Asia Direct Cable System in February and the South-East Asia Japan Cable-2 System in July.
• Government subsidised fibre cables now run under the sea to Lamma Island, Cheung Chau and Peng Chau, and mobile operators can use the new village fibre as backhaul for high speed mobile services, including 5G, in the areas they reach.
• Since 1 October 2024, authorised operators may install mobile equipment in space reserved in new and redeveloped buildings whose plans were approved from 1 April 2025, without paying the owners. Extra base stations have also been added at Kai Tak Sports Park, AsiaWorld-Expo and the Convention and Exhibition Centre.
• When 3.5 GHz moved to mobile use in 2020, restriction zones were drawn in Tai Po and Stanley to protect satellite control stations. The Tai Po zone was lifted on 31 October 2024 after a satellite operator relocated its stations.