Page 5 - Sphere No.9 (Sep 2003)

S PHERE
3
bites
Hutchison
Telecom has
been selected by Hongkong
Post as the sole GPRS (General
Packet Radio Service) network
provider for the department’s
Hong Kong-first Collection and
Delivery Management System.
The co-operation puts Hongkong Post at the
forefront of deploying innovative technology
for courier services, utilising Hutchison
Telecom’s advanced GPRS network in
conjunction with PDAs equipped with
a barcode-scanning function.
Hutchison Global
Communications
(HGC) and PowerCom Network Hong
Kong in May jointly introduced Yes TV
Plus, a multi-media platform that provides
sports, news and music entertainment TV
programmes on personal computers. Yes TV
Plus is provided by Yes Television.
Exclusively available at www.hgcbroadband.com,
the service initially offered three channels –
Channel NewsAsia,The Soundtrack Channel
for free, and highly popular MUTV
(Manchester United Television) at a monthly
subscription. More programmes will be
added later this year.
To extend video telephony service
from the corporate market to the general
public, HGC earlier launched Net.me.Look,
a service that enables residential broadband
users to make video phone calls with ease.
Hutchison Essar
South has been staging
street plays as a novel way of promoting its
mobile phone service. The company has
been using short bilingual plays performed
by a local theatre group to tell
people about new
features, such as enhanced coverage
in the southern state of Andhra Pradesh.
The company chose street plays rather than
mass media as the objective was to
communicate enhanced coverage in specific
pockets in the city, not expanded coverage
of the footprint to new towns.“This
medium has been effective as it engaging
and direct,” said Chief Operating Officer
Kumar Ramanathan. Hutchison Essar South
said it would increase its coverage from 31
towns in Andhra Pradesh to about 100.
Hutchison Whampoa, through affiliates,
runs mobile services in the cities of Delhi,
Mumbai, Chennai and Kolkata. In addition
to Andhra Pradesh, it also operates networks
in the states of Gujarat and Karnataka.
In another significant
step to broaden the
company’s range of business services,
Partner Communications in April
launched Orange omail, a service that
offers secured access to the office from your
Orange brand mobile at all times, from
anywhere in Israel and many destinations
abroad.
The orange omail service, a cooperative
venture with Onset, dramatically increases
the customer’s ability to keep up to date
constantly when out of the office, out of the
house or even out of the country.
Strictly Business
Signed, Sealed, Delivered
All theWorld’s a Stage
Hutchison
Telecommunications
(Australia) has reported positive EBITDA
for the second consecutive half year.
EBITDA for the period to June 30,
2003 was A$12.2 million (approximately
US$7.9 million), compared with A$2.1
million in the previous half.Total
operating revenue was A$130.5 million,
an increase of 16% on the corresponding
period last year.
The Orange Mobile business contributed
A$101.7 million to total revenue spurred
by 5.8% growth in the subscriber base,
to 278,861 customers.
The 3G operation reported its first revenue
of A$13.6 million. EBITDA was A$76.4
million in the red, reflecting start-up costs
consistent with the business’ early stage
of development.
A Good Result
T E L E C O M S
HONG KONG
INDIA
ISRAEL
HONG KONG
AUSTRALIA
applause
Hutchison Telecom (HK) received four
citations in this year’s Asia Pacific
Customer Relationship Excellence Awards,
organised by the Hong Kong
Management Association: Customer
Service Centre of theYear (Telecoms),
Corporate Service Team of theYear
(Telecoms), Customer Loyalty Programme
of theYear (Telecoms) and CRM Director
of theYear.
The sales team also gained recognition for
the fourth consecutive year with five staff
receiving the “Distinguished Salesperson
Award.”
HGC Broadens Broadband Service