HK SmarTone Launches 3G Mobile Svc With 2 Handset Models

HONG KONG (Dow Jones)--Hong Kong mobile network operator SmarTone Telecommunications Holdings (0315.HK) Sunday launched its third-generation mobile phone service.

At launch, SmarTone's 3G service will be available through two handsets models, the Motorola E1000 and the Nokia 6630, but the company said it will add eight more models in the first half of 2005.

These models will include the Sanyo S103 and the Sharp SX813, which are exclusive to SmarTone, the company said in a statement.

The South China Morning Post said SmarTone's 3G multimedia service, called iN, is priced at between HK$128 and $368 a month, with the top-end tariff plan giving customers 130 video call minutes.

Earlier this month, SmarTone introduced its first 3G services by offering a high-speed datacard that allows fast downloads on laptop computers.

The company is the second mobile operator to offer 3G services in Hong Kong, after Hutchison Whampoa Ltd. (0013.HK) launched its service in January this year.

Hong Kong CSL Ltd., a unit of Australia's Telstra Corp. (TLS), is expected to announce the launch of its 3G services later Monday.

-By Julie Wang, Dow Jones Newswires; 852-2802-7002; julie.wang@dowjones.com

Edited by David Riordan

(END) Dow Jones Newswires "

Posted to the site on 20th December 2004