Sweden, Hong Kong, December 16, 2000 - Hi3G Access AB announced today that it has been awarded a national licence for 15 mHz of paired and 5 mHz of unpaired spectrum to provide third generation mobile communications (3G) services network in Sweden. The licence was awarded following a thorough assessment of the merits of the Hi3G application. No licence fee is payable by Hi3G for the licence.

Hi3G Access AB is jointly owned by Sweden's Investor AB (40%) and Hong Kong based Hutchison Whampoa (60%).

"We believe it is our combination of financial, technological and marketing strengths that formed the basis for us being granted one of the four 3G licences for Sweden," says Bjrn Svedberg, chairman of the board of Hi3G Access AB.

Hi3G's vision for third generation mobile communication is to provide the Swedish population with world-leading services for mobile, high-speed voice and data communication. Hi3G's strategy will promote open competition and collaboration with third parties to permit them to provide their own services over Hi3G's network.

"We see 3G as a new medium that provides many new ways to communicate. The challenge now is to build the network and to reach the entire Swedish population with those services that the new technology makes possible. Hi3G is looking forward to working with everyone, who wants to make, and can make this a success.

Sweden is an advanced and strategically important market for the future mobile communication in Europe. Therefore, we are planning to establish a European Centre for the development of services for third generation mobile communication in Sweden," says Bjrn Svedberg.

About Investor AB

Sweden's largest holding company with total net asset value close to US$20 billion, is a leading shareholder in a number of global companies, including ABB, AstraZeneca, Ericsson, Gambro, OM Gruppen, Saab, Scania, SEB and StoraEnso. In addition, through its New Investments arm, Investor has made a number of promising investments in early stage and growth companies in the United States, Asia and throughout Europe. Investor is focused on identifying emerging leaders in high growth sectors such as technology and health care. Investor Capital Partners - Asia Fund, L.P. will be the investment vehicle of Investor AB in Asia and will focus on buy-outs and providing growth capital.

Investor's largest shareholders are the Wallenberg family foundations and a number of mutual and pension funds. Headquartered in Stockholm, Investor also has offices in New York, London, Hong Kong, Amsterdam and Palo Alto, California.
(www.investorab.com)

About Hutchison Whampoa

Hutchison Whampoa is a Hong Kong-based multinational conglomerate with a market capitalisation of about US$53 billion. With origins dating back to the 1800s, Hutchison is also part of the Li Ka-shing group of companies, which together represent about 15% of the total market capitalisation of the Hong Kong stock market. In 1999, consolidated turnover was over US$7.1 billion, and earnings after tax and exceptional items were approximately US$15.1 billion

With close to 100,000 employees worldwide, Hutchison operates five core businesses in 27 countries: ports and related services; telecommunications and e-commerce; property and hotels; retail and manufacturing; and energy and infrastructure.

Worldwide, the Group is one of the leading owners and operators of Internet and telecommunications infrastructure, offering a wide range of related services. These include fixed-line services, internet services, fiber optics broadband networks, mobile telephony (voice and data), paging, trunked mobile radio, VSAT and radio broadcasting services.
(www.hutchison-whampoa.com)

For further information:

Hi3G Access AB
Bjrn Svedberg, Chairman, tel: +46 8 545 01 777
e-mail: bs@kaw.se

Investor AB
Nils Ingvar Lundin, mobile: +46 70 514 20 49
e-mail: nilsingvar.lundin@investorab.com
Pontus Ekman, mobile: +46 70 624 20 46
e-mail: pontus.ekman@investorab.com

Hutchison Whampoa
UK
Edward Brewster, Hutchison3G UK, tel: +44 207 887 78 69
mobile: +44 7775 783 307
e-mail: edward.brewster@hutchison3g.com

Hong Kong
Nora Yong, pager: +852 7229 4992
tel: + 852 2128 1289 ; fax: +852 2128 1766
e-mail: noray@hwl.com.hk