International Operations
The Hutchison Telecommunications International Group oversees its existing businesses in South East Asia, Australia, the Indian sub-continent, Middle East and Latin America as well as the development of new business opportunities in and outside these regions. The mission of the International Group is to pursue business development opportunities where they arise and create value by providing the best service at the cost appropriate for the market concerned.
Australia
Hutchison Telecommunications (Australia) (57.82% interest) ("HTA") is a listed Australian company focused on the provision of wireless telecommunications services in Australia. The Company's shares are quoted on Australia Stock Exchange under the symbol HTA. Its principal activities are the operation of its own mobile telephony network under the Orange brand using Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA) technology and the development of a third generation (3G) business expected to be launched late 2002/early 2003. The Company also provides national paging and messaging services.
The Orange mobile communications business provides customers with low-cost voice and data network services that combine quality and value. The business has three core products: Orange mobile, Orange Messaging and Orange Information Services.
The 3G business is operated under a subsidiary of HTA, Hutchison 3G Australia in which Telecom Corporation of New Zealand has a 19.9% stake. Hutchison 3G Australia is well positioned to be Australia's first mover in the exciting new field of 3G services. Hutchison 3G Australia's goal is to deliver a new experience in information, entertainment and communications (for more, please visit website www.hutchison.com.au)
India
The Group's presence in India began with Hutchison Max Telecom Mumbai (formerly Bombay) in 1994. In 2000, the Group acquired interests in the major cities of Delhi and Calcutta and in the state of Gujarat, all with GSM900 technology.
Hutchison Max Telecom, a partnership with local companies Max India and Kotak Mahindra, launched its GSM service in Mumbai in late 1995. Hutchison Max Telecom is the country's largest roaming operator with the maximum number of roaming partners / countries to offer its customers. The brand "Orange" was launched in February 2000 and has become the most recognised brand for offering the latest in wirefree services due to the enhanced technology and user-friendly products and services. As at March 2002, Hutchison Max Telecom had over 425,000 subscribers.
In Delhi, Hutchison has an interest in Sterling Cellular Ltd. The Group acquired 49% of the equity shares in Sterling Cellular in January 2000 and the balance of 51% is owned by its Indian partners, principally Essar Teleholdings Limited. As at March 2002, Sterling Cellular had over 382,000 subscribers.
In Calcutta, Hutchison's interest is in Usha Martin Telekom Ltd (UMTL). It offers its services under the "Command" brand. UMTL has a base of over 160,000 customers. With the association of the Hutchison Group, this company has achieved significant growth.
In Gujarat, Hutchison's interest, acquired in September 2000, is in Fascel Ltd, Gujarat's number one cellular operator. Fascel operates in Gujarat under the brand name CelForce. As at March 2002, the company had more than 300,000 subscribers and is one of the largest non-metro cellular operator in India.
In August 2001, Hutchison acquired additional licences to operate 1800 MHz mobile phone services in key metropolitan areas, including Karnataka (includes Bangalore), Chennai and Andhra Pradesh (includes Hyderabad) to build on the Group¡¦s existing premium footprint with a strong exposure to the South India hi-tech belt.
Hutchison affiliates jointly account for one of the two largest cellular blocks in India with a base of over 1,266,000 customers out of a total base of around 6m cellular customers in all of the India.
Thailand
Hutchison has a significant interest in Hutchison CAT Wireless MultiMedia ("Hutchison Wireless") (formerly Tawan Mobile Telecom Company), a joint venture with the Communications Authority of Thailand ("CAT") which has been granted a marketing service agreement from the CAT to provide marketing service for 800 MHz CDMA cellular services in the Greater Bangkok Area and Central Thailand until 2015. Hutchison Wireless's existing basic voice services will be upgraded and leading edge value added services will be added in the near future.
Hutchison also has a longstanding operation which offers paging services (including a newspager information service) nationwide in Thailand. The paging operation has about 23,000 subscribers. The paging operation also operates a successful web portal "lemononline.com" which provides content and features geared to the Thai market.
Sri Lanka
Hutchison acquired 100% of Lanka Cellular Services (Private) Limited in August 1997 which has a licence to provide nationwide mobile services in Sri Lanka. The Company currently operates a TACS network and a GSM network.
These two networks collectively cover the majority of the population centers including the capital city, Colombo and 27 of rural townships. The Company currently has 58,000 subscribers.
Israel
Partner Communications Company Ltd., of which Hutchison owns 42.7%, is the GSM mobile telephone network operator in Israel. Partner provides a broad range of advanced cellular services to more than 1.5 million customers. The Company's shares are quoted on NASDAQ and on the Tel Aviv Stock Exchange (TASE) under the symbol PTNR and on the London Stock Exchange under the symbol PCCD. Recently Partner was awarded access to additional 2G, 1800 spectrum and to 3G spectrum.
Since commencing full commercial operations in January 1999, Partner has focused on creating new and exciting communications environments for its subscribers through the offering of innovative and value added technologies and services. In its first three years of commercial operations, Partner has established itself as a leader in terms of growth and development, and is demonstrating robust financial and operational performance. Clear strategic vision combined with a focus on performance and results has translated into a growing customer base, low subscriber acquisition costs, and high levels of usage and revenue per subscriber, which are all reflected in the Company's improved EBITDA and operating profit. In terms of subscribers and revenues, Partner has consistently captured the lion's share of the growth in the Israeli cellular market. In 2001 Partner took 72% of the growth in revenues in the cellular market. Indeed, Partner's subscriber base of 1.5 million represents an estimated 27% of the cellular market in Israel and is generating one of the highest ARPUs (Average Revenue per User) and MOU (Minutes of Use) in the industry.
Ghana
Hutchison owns 80% of Celltel Limited which is licensed to provide cellular service on the 800 MHz band. Beginning with Accra, the capital city and center of Ghana's economic activity, Celltel uses innovative business models to provide telecom services to customers suitable for the country.
Argentina
Hutchison has a 90% interest in Hutchison Telecommunications Argentina SA ("HT Argentina") which has a licence to provide local telephony services in a nationwide basis. HT Argentina has been granted 900 MHz spectrum to operate a GSM network in the Greater Buenos Aires (AMBA) and many other cities including the four major cities in Argentina. After launching the service in May, 2000, HT Argentina has currently over 25,000 subscribers.
Paraguay
Hutchison owns 100% of Hutchison Telecommunications Paraguay SA ("HT Paraguay") (formerly Comunicaciones Personales, SA) which is licensed to provide mobile services nationwide in Paraguay using 1900 MHz spectrum. HT Paraguay, an existing operator at the time of Hutchison's acquisition in July 2000, was re-launched with an expanded network with increased subscriber capacity in March 2001.
Malaysia
Hutchison's paging service in Kuala Lumpur and other parts of Malaysia has over 8,700 subscribers, which represents a market share of 20%.
