media release 25 March 2001

Hutchison Telecommunications (Australia) Limited (Hutchison) today announced the termination of negotiations with Vodafone Pacific Limited ("Vodafone") following the announcement by Vodafone of its withdrawal from the Cable & Wireless Optus Limited sale process.

Commenting on the announcement, the Managing Director of Hutchison, Mr Barry Roberts-Thomson, said:

"While we were optimistic about the potential surrounding the proposed agreement with Vodafone, this was always a purely speculative opportunity for us. Despite this decision our strategy remains unchanged - we are very committed to developing our Orange One business and Hutchison is on-track to be an early entrant in the delivery of third generation (3G) services in Australia which we believe will create the next wave of growth in mobile telecommunications."

Information about Hutchison

Hutchison Telecommunications (Australia) Limited has over 10 years of involvement in Australian telecommunications and its goal is to be a leading provider of wirefree services. The company was listed on the Australian Stock Exchange in August 1999 and is indirectly 58% owned by Hutchison Whampoa Limited, a Hong Kong-based company with operations which include an international telecommunications business operating throughout Europe, Asia, Israel and India.

Hutchison launched its own wireless service, using CDMA technology, called Orange One in mid-2000. This world first service is the home phone that can go mobile. It operates on Orange's own purpose-built CDMA network. When you make a call the network knows the location of the handset. Calls are charged at local rates when the caller is at home (called LocalZone) and mobile rates apply when the calls are made outside the LocalZone. The Orange One CDMA network provides coverage to around eight million people in and around Sydney and Melbourne.

Contact: Trish Fox, Public Affairs Manager
Phone 61 2 8902 3250
Email: tfox@orange.net.au

Kim Watt, Investor Relations Manager
Phone 61 2 8902 0554
Email: kwatt@orange.net.au