UK Hutchison 3G to delay 3G rollout

date: June 17, 2002

Hutchison 3G, poised to become the U.K.'s newest mobile phone company, has delayed the launch of its service until the end of this year, The Guardian reports.

Managing Director of the Hutchison Whampoa unit Colin Tucker has ruled out big subsidies for Europe's first 3G offer that could have helped it grab customers during the crucial Christmas season, the Guardian says.

At teh same time, areport by Credit Lyonnaise Securities Asia following a meeting with Canning Fok, MD of Hutchison Whampoa, has said that Hutchison 3G expects to have lured 1.5 million subscribers to both of its UK and Italian businesses by the end of 2003. Back in March, Fok had said that the subscriber targets were one million in each country by the end of 2003. Both countries are expected to launch in Q4 this year, likely in October.

The report also said Hutchison expects to generate monthly ARPU of between GBP50 - 60 per month (EUR 78 - 93). ABN Amro has put the current ARPU figure at about GBP21 (EUR 32.7) per month for pre-paid and GBP37 (EUR57.6) for post-paid users.

It was also revealed that Hutchison wants to keep its Hong Kong subscribers on 2G services for a while as it is expected to positioning 3G as a high-end service to keep its 2G subscriber base in tact. The firm hopes to attract between 50,000 and 100,000 3G users in Hong Kong within the first year from launch and is said to be selling handsets at a premium price of HK$15,000 (EUR 2,027).

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