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Russia has it's first 3G network, October 6, 2007

AT&T could drop Alcatel-Lucent as 3G mobile network supplier, October 6, 2007

Enea Extends License Agreement with ZTE for 3G Handsets, October 2, 2007

LG to unveil premium handsets in Brazil, October 2, 2007

KTF 3G subscribers doubled in less than 3 months, October 2, 2007

3G policy in India will be non-uniform, October 2, 2007

- previous news

India drives increase in Hutchison Telecom's mobile customer base

March 12, 2006

Hutchison Telecommunications International announced its financial results for the full year ended 31 December 2005.

The Group reported a 64.1% increase in turnover in 2005 to HK$24.4 billion with most operations reporting turnover growth despite facing increased competition. The upsurge in turnover was driven by growth in the Group's mobile customer base, which increased 39% to 16.9 million at the end of 2005 with particularly strong growth in India.

Dennis Lui, Chief Executive Officer of Hutchison Telecom, said: "In 2005, we delivered over HK$2 billion in profits on continuing operating activities, against a small loss in the previous year."

"2005 was an important year for Hutchison Telecom in other ways," Mr Lui said. "We strengthened our position in the high growth markets of India, Indonesia and Vietnam through acquisitions and investment. We plan to invest substantially in 2006 to further strengthen our position as one of the leading operators in emerging growth markets," Lui said.

Operations Review

India

Hutchison Essar' customer base grew by 4.3 million new customers in 2005, an increase of 59.4% in the full year and 17.6% in the fourth quarter. This growth has largely been in the prepaid segment, driven by accelerated investment in coverage together with the introduction of new tariff plans and realignment of existing plans.

Turnover increased 40.9% to HK$10.0 billion which mirrored the strong growth in the customer base. EBITDA increased 47.1% to HK$3,237 million with improved margins in Andhra Pradesh, Chennai, Haryana and Rajasthan.

The Group intends to invest between HK$9 billion and HK$10 billion in India in 2006 to double the size of the network in anticipation of continued growth it expects to see in 2006.

Hong Kong and Macau Mobile

In 2005, Hutchison Telecom Hong Kong continued its push to bring 3G services to Hong Kong and now has a 3G customer base in excess of 500,000. 3G customers continue to deliver a premium revenue stream, helping to grow our revenues in the face of market penetration level in excess of 100%.

Despite intense competition, combined turnover for the Hong Kong and Macau mobile operations increased 3.3 % to HK$3.8 billion, driven by the growing 3G customer base and higher average revenue per user associated with 3G services. EBITDA was HK$769 million, a welcome recovery from HK$362 million in 2004 as the benefits of cost initiatives started to show and due to the absence of one-off charges. The EBITDA margin improved to 20.0% in 2005 from 9.7% in 2004.

Israel

Partner results were consolidated as a subsidiary for the first time for the period from April to December 2005, following a buy back of shares by Partner. The turnover contribution from Partner for the 9 months was HK$6.6 billion with EBITDA of HK$1,981 million. In addition, the Group reported HK$88 million profit under the equity accounting method for the three months ended 31 March 2005. Total customer base reached 2.5 million in end February 2006 with over 118,000 3G customers.

Thailand

By taking decisive action to control costs, the operations in Thailand moved closer to EBITDA breakeven, becoming EBITDA positive on a monthly basis by the end of the year. Despite an extremely difficult operating environment, the Group was able to overcome the challenges and is confident that the business is now on a strong base.

Turnover was HK$1.0 billion, whilst LBITDA improved from HK$233 million in 2004 to HK$15 million in 2005. The Group launched a number of initiatives in 2005, including restructuring the organisation and entering into a managed services agreement for both the network maintenance and IT operations, which resulted in a positive EBITDA in the last quarter of the year and is expected to have a positive impact in 2006.

Outlook

The coming year is expected to be a year of substantial investment for the Group. We anticipate investing in the order of HK$13.5 billion to HK$14.5 billion in capital expenditure to expand our operations. Much of the investment will be in India where we have earmarked between HK$9 billion and HK$10 billion to double the size of the network.

We plan to invest in aggregate HK$2.0 billion to HK$3.0 billion in Indonesia and Vietnam during 2006. The balance of the investment is planned for the 3G network in Israel and maintenance expenditure across the remainder of our businesses.

Our depreciation and amortisation charge will be higher in 2006 reflecting this higher level of investments.

We remain confident of double-digit mobile customer growth that will again lead to double-digit turnover growth.