Page 5 - Sphere No.8 (Mar 2003)

SPHERE
3
Hutchison Essar
claimed a world first in
January when its affiliated companies across
India launched HutchAlive – a personalised,
interactive broadcast service that
automatically updates mobile phones with
text news headlines.
Phones carry menus, such as a list of
headlines, and users pay for selecting related
information, such as the story behind the
headline, which is sent by the network.
Apart from News, key content areas are
Cricket, Entertainment, Astrology, Lifestyle
and Promotional Offers. HutchAlive was
simultaneously introduced across Mumbai,
Delhi, Kolkata, Chennai, Gujarat, Andhra
Pradesh and Karnataka under the Orange
and Hutch brands.
Hutchison had an exclusive head-start
period for the use of the “cellular
broadcast” technology licensed from
privately held Israeli firm Celltick.
From Feb. 8, coinciding with the inaugural
game, the company launched the Cricket
World Cup video service exclusively on
Hutch GPRS phones, allowing subscribers
to see video clip replays. As part of
HutchWorld, Hutchison Essar is also offering
photo messaging, e-mail and games.
Reflecting the company’s progressive
approach to technology as well as
management leadership, speedy response to
change, environmental consciousness and
social responsiveness, Hutchison emerged as
the clear No. 1 in a country-wide poll as
the “Most Respected Company in the
Telecom Sector” published in Businessworld
in January.
INDIA
NEC Takes Equity Stake
NEC Corporation in
October acquired from
HWL a 5% strategic equity interest in both
Hutchison Telephone Company Ltd.
(HTCL) and Hutchison 3G HK Holdings
(H3G HK) for a total cash consideration of
US$73 million.
HTCL and one of its subsidiaries are the
licensed providers of cellular mobile
telephone services in Hong Kong and Macau.
H3G HK, through a subsidiary, is the licensed
operator of 3G mobile services in Hong
Kong.
As part of this transaction, HWL's interest in
HTCL and H3G HK has changed from
74.63% to approximately 71%, while NTT
DoCoMo’s stake changed from 25.37% to
approximately 24% for both companies.
The deal creates a strong strategic partnership,
with NEC providing comprehensive support
for Hutchison’s worldwide 3G businesses.
Hutchison CAT
Wireless MultiMedia
Ltd., a joint venture between The
Communications Authority of Thailand
and Hutchison Wireless Multimedia
Holdings, commercially launched a new
mobile phone service in February under the
Hutch brand.
The Hutch service deploys CDMA2000 1X,
which supports high speed wireless
technology that enable multimedia
functions, bringing customers
more information,
communication and
entertainment choices
on the move.
Hutch has also teamed
up with Sanyo of Japan
and Samsung of Korea to
provide customised
terminals equipped with
HTML compatible browser and
multimedia capabilities to handle new
content-rich applications and high-speed
data transmission.
THAILAND
“Hutch” Service Launched
HONG KONG
VideoTelephony Deal
Ericsson and HWL have
signed a global agreement
on an end-to-end solution that supports video
telephony between personal computers and 3G
handsets. The solution will be deployed in
Hutchison 3G markets worldwide.
GLOBAL
Retail Agreements
Hutchison 3G UK has
entered into agreements
with Dixons/The Link (290 stores),
Carphone Warehouse (470 stores) and
Phones 4U (325 stores) to retail its 3 brand
products and services.
UK
T E L E C O M S
Hutchison Essar Hits the Headlines
Hutchison
Telecommunications
(Australia) Ltd. under the Orange Mobile
brand recorded an EBITDA loss of A$14.1
million (about US$8.3 million) for 2002, a
dramatic improvement on the 2001 loss of
A$112.9 million. For the first time, second half
EBITDA was positive at A$2.1 million.
The turnaround was delivered through
customer and revenue growth and ongoing
rationalisation of operating costs. Profitability
was also enhanced by reduced capital
expenditure, down from A$254.2 million in
2001 to A$31.1 million.
The company also reported it was at advanced
stages of the technical integration, stabilisation
and end-to-end testing of the network,
platforms, operating systems and devices for its
3G operation under the 3 brand.
AUSTRALIA
Orange in the Black
bites