Hong Kong Hutchison Telecom, NTT DoCoMo In Strategic Partnership"

HONG KONG -(Dow Jones)- Hutchison Telecommunications (Hong Kong), a unit of Hutchison Telecommunications International, said Monday it has formed a strategic partnership with NTT DoCoMo of Japan.

An industry source familiar with the matter said the two companies are likely to launch mobile applications related to Hutchison Telecom's third-generation mobile platform in Hong Kong.

A spokeswoman of Hutchison Telecommunications (Hong Kong) declined to give further details, but said the two companies will hold a press briefing on the partnership Thursday.

DoCoMo spokeswoman Tomoko Tsuda also wouldn't comment on the details of the partnership.

DoCoMo holds about 25% of Hutchison Telecom (Hong Kong). It said in 2001 it was studying possibilities for cooperation with its Hong Kong partner, including introducing its i-mode mobile Internet service in Hong Kong. Both companies so far haven't disclosed any specific plans.

HTIL, a 49.8%-owned unit of Hutchison Whampoa, operates second-generation mobile phone services in Hong Kong, India, Thailand, Israel, Macau, Sri Lanka and Ghana, and 3G services in Israel and Hong Kong. It also has a fixed-line business in Hong Kong.

At the end of March this year, it had 21.1 million subscribers.

NTT DoCoMo, Japan's biggest mobile phone company by subscribers, is shifting its focus to the 3G service.

The number of subscribers for its 2G service totaled 26.83 million at the end of April, down 846,500 from a month earlier.

Its 3G subscribers rose by 1.10 million from a month earlier to 24.56 million at the end of April.

-By Ernest Kong, Dow Jones Newswires; 852-2802-7002; ernest.kong@dowjones.com

-Edited by Sharon Buan

(END) Dow Jones Newswires "

Posted to the site on 29th May 2006