Page 6 - Sphere No.5 (Feb 2002)

Hutchison
Telecommunications and
Optus have announced deals to streamline their
mobile and fibre capacity.
As part of the mobile deal, Hutchison will
transfer its GSM mobile resale base of
approximately 260,000 customers to Optus for
A$43 million (about US$22.48 million).
Hutchison has been reselling the Optus digital
mobile service for over six years.
Hutchison and Optus have also signed a long-
term transmission capacity agreement that
includes an ongoing operation and
maintenance contract. The aggregated
value of this capacity deal is estimated
to be over A$60 million for Optus. The
transmission capacity will link Hutchison's
Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Adelaide
and Perth operations and will support
both the existing CDMA and future 3G
networks. Hutchison has further signed a
memorandum of understanding with Optus
for the provision of national roaming services
to its 3G customers.
T E L E C O M S
AUSTRALIA
Paying by Phone
Hutchison Telecom,
Visa International
and Dao Heng Bank
have formed a
partnership to
develop a mobile
payment service
using Mobile3-D
Secure, a global
specification that
ensures the
security of
payments via
mobile phones
and other
wireless devices.
Mobile 3-D Secure is an easy-to-
implement, globally interoperable payment
authentication solution that can be tailored
to different regional and local wireless
networks including GSM, CDMA and,
in the future, 3G.
Hong Kong will be the first city in
the world to conduct “live” mobile commerce
payment through the service.
HONG KONG
SPHERE
4
H U T C H I S O N U P D A T E S
Roaming the Mainland
Hutchison Telecom
has signed an agreement
with China Mobile to jointly develop a high-
speed GPRS roaming service covering major
cities in the Mainland, including Beijing,
Shanghai, Guangzhou and Shenzhen.
CHINA
Deals Streamline Transmission Capacity
Disney Downloads
Hutchison Telecom
has joined forces with
Walt Disney Internet Group to
distribute Disney branded wireless content
over its Orange
Dualband and
CDMA networks.
The service includes
downloadable
content based on
Disney’s popular
characters,
including
screensavers,
wallpaper, logos,
e-cards and
ring tones.
Credit Facility to Boost HGCL Infrastructure
Hutchison Global Crossing, which owns and operates Hong Kong’s largest
all-fibre-optic network, has secured a HK$4.4 billion (about US$564 million)
syndicated term loan, arranged by ABN AMRO Bank, Citibank / Salomon Smith Barney and
Commerz (East Asia). The proceeds will be used to boost the company’s development in network
infrastructure.
Test Cricket Rights
Hutchison 3G has
teamed up with the
Australian Cricket Board to
sponsor test cricket in Australia.
The deal includes a five-year
contract for exclusive 3G
broadcasting rights.
The start of the 2002-03
season will coincide with
Hutchison’s first-to-market
launch strategy for 3G
services.
AUSTRALIA
HONG KONG
Hutchison Telecom HK has been awarded
the “Best Practice Partner” title in all three
categories of a Customer Service Consort-
ium Benchmarking Study conducted by
the Hong Kong Productivity Council.
Hutchison was the only organisation
accredited with three titles: Call Centre,
Service Centre and Billing.
R E T A I L & M A N U F A C T U R I N G
Refreshing New Image
Adding to its pure distilled water line,
Watsons Water recently introduced a
new product—Watsons Distilled Water with
Minerals—to provide greater choice
for consumers.
PNS Opens 11 Stores
PARK nSHOP Hong Kong opened
11 new stores in the fourth quarter
of 2001, creating over 1,000 new jobs.
The expansion takes the number of
supermarkets operated by the chain to
over 200, including 50 new-generation
superstores, and the number of
employees to around 10,000.
Powwow’s Production Plant
Powwow, the biggest water cooler
company in the UK, has opened a new
£5 million (about US$ 7.7 million)
production centre in Fillongley, Coventry.
The new plant also manufactures water
cooler bottles, marking a first for the UK
water cooler industry, which has
traditionally relied on offsite suppliers.
applause
HONG KONG
Newsbites