News Release

Dublin, 30 November 2005 -- 3, Ireland's newest 3G network, today announced the appointment of Robert Finnegan as managing director for 3 Ireland. In this position, Finnegan will have overall responsibility for building the 3 business in the Irish market. Finnegan will report directly to 3 UK and Ireland CEO, Bob Fuller.

Finnegan comes to 3 with a multitude of senior level experience. He is an 11-year veteran of Hutchison Whampoa Limited - 3's parent company. From 1998 to 2003, he served as CEO of its beverage division - Watson's - a 3,000-employee company with an annual turnover of US$200m. In this position, Finnegan strategically led the development of its water business in Europe under the Powwow brand, building it to market leader position. He also initiated and led the divestiture of Powwow to Nestle for US$545m. Prior to his role as CEO at Watson's, Finnegan held positions as Financial Controller and Finance and Strategic Planning Director at Hutchison for six years.

Most recently, Finnegan was CEO of Sentrio Technologies, a hosted mobile resource solution company, where he was instrumental in building the business internationally. Prior to his time at Sentrio, he served as CEO of Nestle's European home and office water business. Finnegan has also held senior finance roles at Lyons Tetley and Procter and Gamble.

Bob Fuller, CEO of 3 UK and Ireland, commented: "We're delighted to have someone of Robert's calibre leading the charge in Ireland. His strong track record in building businesses within the Hutchison Whampoa Group makes him the ideal candidate for the job, and I believe he will be instrumental in building profitable market share and firmly establishing 3 in the eyes of Irish customers."

Finnegan commented, "I've been watching 3 closely since its Irish launch in July, and I firmly believe that with its fresh approach and excellent value proposition, the company will make a significant impact on the Irish mobile market. I look forward to helping drive the company's growth and building 3 into a force to be reckoned with as it progresses into the commercial stage of its development."

3 also announced the departure of Commercial Director, Stephen Pilkington who has left the company to pursue other personal interests. Pilkington's responsibilities will be folded into Finnegan's role.

Finnegan (43), will be based in 3 Ireland's offices on Harcourt Road, Dublin.

Media contacts:

WHPR
Sarah Heaney or Andrew McLindon
Tel: +353 1 669 0030
Email: sarah.heaney@ogilvy.com / Andrew.mclindon@ogilvy.com
Video Mobile: 083 3301896 / 083-3301899

3 Ireland
Graeme Slattery
Graeme.slattery@3ireland.ie
Video Mobile: 083 330 2015

About 3

3 Ireland is the new entrant in the Irish mobile services market and operates one of Ireland's 3G mobile phone licences under the '3' brand. 3 is Europe's leading video mobile (3G) operator and was the first to offer 3G services to European customers.

In Ireland, 3 has built a new video mobile (3G) network, to offer a convergence of media, information and telephony to enable live video calls, multimedia content and entertainment while on the move. 3 has also signed a national roaming agreement, giving 3's customers full access to Vodafone Ireland's GSM (or 2G) network, ensuring that 3's customers will have the same level of national coverage as Vodafone Ireland's GSM customers.

3 Ireland is 100 per cent owned by Hutchison Whampoa Group which also holds 3G licenses in Australia, Austria, Denmark, Hong Kong, Israel, Italy, Norway, Sweden and the UK. In October 2005, 3 announced that it had over 10 million customers worldwide.