Page 15 - Sphere No.9 (Sep 2003)

3 FOR ALL
Hutchison 3G has spent two years developing the technology; now the race
to sign up consumers has begun.
By Mark Caldwell
S PHERE
13
S ince entering the 3G arena,
Hutchison 3G (H3G) has emerged
as a leading global player holding
ten licences, with the recent addition of
Norway to its global footprint. Crucially,
H3G is the first player to operate dual-
mode 3G services.
To date, the 3 service is available to
customers in five markets – the UK, Italy,
Australia, Austria and Sweden. Hong
Kong and Denmark will follow later this
year while Ireland and Israel are at various
stages of the rollout plan.
Following Italy and the UK,
3 Australia was the third market to go live,
with services activated in Sydney and
Melbourne on April 15. On the back of
what 3 Australia described as “very posi-
tive” sales, the national rollout was com-
pleted in July, two months ahead of
schedule, to include Perth, Adelaide,
Brisbane and the Gold Coast.
“What we’ve seen in Sydney and
Melbourne has been encouraging and it’s
made us move more quickly,” said Kevin
Russell, CEO of H3G Australia.
The company believed it had a head
start on its competitors of “at least 12
months,”Russell added, forecasting that it
could be cash-flow positive by late 2006.
3 products were initially available at
19 Hutchison-owned flagship 3Stores in
Sydney and Melbourne, extending to
250 retail points by the end of
September. Strathfield Car Radio,
Brisbane Car Sound and Allphones out-
lets are among the franchised stores also
selling the 3 handsets.
Heralded by nation-wide advertising
campaigns, 3Stores opened in Austria and
Sweden on May 5, offering competitive
tariffs and extending opening hours to
cope with public demand.
Customers in Austria were immedi-
ately able to try out their 3Services,
available in Greater Vienna and environs
as well as Linz, St. Pölten, Eisenstadt and
Graz. Initially, customers could sign up at
3Stores in Vienna, SCS Vösendorf, Graz,
and Linz, at the 3Webstore or at 20 spe-
cialised dealers.Multimedia retailer chain
NiEDERMEYER, along with hyper-
markets Cosmos, Media Markt,
Promarkt and Saturn, later also signed up
as retail partners.
By July, Innsbruck and western parts
of Austria had gone live, bringing the total
population coverage for 3G services
to 30%. Additional regions will be added
this year. As in all countries where
3 operates, 2G roaming is available outside
the 3G network.
In Sweden, the 3 network currently
covers about 30% of the population.
Customers can sign up at 3Stores in
Stockholm, Gothenburg and Malmoe, or
through independent distributors GEAB,
The Phonehouse, Dialect, RingUP, SIBA,
AudioVideo, Expert and Sekvencia.
MORE FOR LESS
With initial glitches sorted out and 3 ser-
vices already up and running, the battle
for the hearts and minds of consumers
began in earnest at the start of the
European summer.
Across all markets, 3 introduced com-
petitive pricing that hit the headlines, but
it was in the UK that the temperatures
rose to fever pitch.
In June, two new packages – VideoTalk
500 and VideoTalk 750 – offered great
value in comparison to existing voice ser-
vices in the UK, representing customer
savings of as much as 50% and sending
ripples through the industry.
“When 3 went live in March we
focused on a particular segment of the
market,” explained Gareth Jones, COO of
H3G. “Our new pricing options reflect
the natural acceleration of the business
and the broadening out of our market
focus. We are shaking up the market to
give customers a better deal.”
3G
I n its half year results, released in
August, HWL reported that 3’s sum-
mer promotional offerings in Italy, the
UK, and Australia had been very well
received.
Approximately 520,000 customers
had signed up worldwide, with
300,000 in Italy, 155,000 in the UK,
50,000 in Australia and the remainder
in Sweden and Austria.
Hutchison said it expected strong
consumer demand in the autumn and
Christmas period and was working
with its handset suppliers to ensure an
adequate supply to meet the rising
demand.
The right numbers