Hutchison 3G HK Limited ("Hutchison 3G HK") is pleased to announce that it is one of the Provisional Successful Bidders of the 3G auction in Hong Kong. Hutchison 3G HK, a subsidiary of Hutchison Whampoa Limited and a unit of its wireless operations, is formed as the 3G licence holding company in Hong Kong. Hutchison 3G HK is jointly owned by Hutchison Whampoa Limited (74.63%) and NTT DoCoMo, Inc. (25.37%). NTT DoCoMo is also a joint venture partner in Hutchison 3G UK.

Following the completion of second and third phases and upon the grant of the licence, Hutchison 3G HK will obtain a 3G licence with one block of paired spectrum of 2 x 14.8 MHz plus one 5 MHz block of unpaired spectrum at the end of the 3G UMTS (Universal Mobile Telecommunications System) auction in Hong Kong. Each successful licencee will pay a Minimum Annual Fee of HK$50 million for each of the first 5 years, and a royalty percentage of 5% of its network turnover or the applicable Minimum Annual Fee (whichever is the higher) for each of the 6th to 15th years. The spectrum will give Hutchison 3G HK the capacity to provide a full range of compelling new services in Hong Kong.

Hutchison 3G HK will build a UMTS network complying with the licence conditions upon which the Company will develop a world-class and intelligent platform to provide top of the line 3G services, and offer an open-service architecture to encourage a wide range of content and application developments.

Agnes Nardi, Managing Director of Hutchison 3G HK, said, "We are pleased to be one of the Provisional Successful Bidders in Hong Kong. Hong Kong is not only one of the major telecommunications hubs in the world but is also our home base. To obtain a 3G licence in Hong Kong further demonstrates Hutchison's commitment to 3G and is important for us to extend our 2G/2.5G technical and service excellence into the 3G era, helping us stay at the forefront of the new mobile age. Leveraging on our leadership position in Hong Kong and our strategic partnership with NTT DoCoMo, we believe we have laid a solid foundation to building innovative and successful 3G businesses in Hong Kong."

For enquiries, please contact :
Frances Ng
Public Relations Department
Tel: 852-2128-6739
Fax: 852-2123-1257
Email: francesng@hthk.com