Hong Kong SmarTone Launches 3G Upgrade

HONG KONG -(Dow Jones)- SmarTone Telecommunications Holdings said Tuesday it became the first of Hong Kong's mobile operators to launch a third-generation wireless technology upgrade, High Speed Downlink Packet Access.

SmarTone's HSDPA network card will initially allow users to access the Internet at transmission speeds of up to 1.8 megabits per second - five times faster than the usual transmission speed for the 3G wireless technology Wideband Code Division Multiple Access.

Douglas Li, SmarTone's chief executive, said the transmission speed will increase to 14.4 Mbps in 2007 to 2008, and it will launch HSDPA-enabled mobile phones early next year.

Li said SmarTone's service has very "competitive pricing," with its plan giving users unlimited access to the Internet at just HK$488 (US$63) a month.

"It's relatively cheap compared with similar services in other countries," he said.

Li said SmarTone's capital expenditure on the service totals about HK$150 million.

Hong Kong's three other 3G operators have yet to launch a HSDPA service.

Hutchison Telecommunications's Hong Kong unit and CSL New World Mobility, the Hong Kong mobile phone unit of Australia's Telstra, said earlier they plan to launch an HSDPA service in the third quarter.

PCCW hasn't set a timetable for an HSDPA service.

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

-Edited by Andrew Bullard

(END) Dow Jones Newswires "

Posted to the site on 6th June 2006