Cable & Wireless HKT Mobile Services and Nokia Complete 3rd Generation Mobile Communication Trials - Company Business and Marketing

Cambridge Telcom Report, June 5, 2000

Cable & Wireless HKT Mobile Services and Nokia have announced two milestones in high-speed mobile communications - the successful completion of all 3rd Generation (3G) trials, and the provision of Hong Kong's first commercially-available 43.2 kbit/s High Speed Circuit Switched Data (HSCSD) service.

The completion of these trials means the two companies are well positioned to move quickly to provide 3G services in Hong Kong.

Following the completion of the first phase of basic functional trials in February, the second phase 3G trials involved more intensive testing of 3G WCDMA to determine the experimental system's advanced technology and features, such as power control and handover capabilities. During the trials, data calls with bit rates up to 384 kbit/s were successfully made.

These advancements are expected to help achieve call stability and reliability, two critical factors for transmitting large volumes of data via a mobile network in a unique high-density environment such as Hong Kong.

With this launch of Hong Kong's first HSCSD service at a speed of 43.2 kbit/s, mobile data service customers can enjoy high-speed data transmission when using appropriate card phone models connected to a designated dial-up number.

In addition, Cable & Wireless HKT Mobile Services is ready to offer GPRS capabilities empowered by Nokia Networks. With the successful testing of the Nokia GPRS network, Cable & Wireless HKT Mobile Services can explore innovative mobile applications that will enable total IP mobility.

Mr. Adam Wong, Director, Mobile Networks, Cable & Wireless HKT Mobile Services said, "3G is our priority as we lead the mobile industry in the deployment and development of the latest technologies in Hong Kong. These trial results will be most constructive in our future service planning and enhancements. With Nokia, we are committed pushing the limits of 3G communication."

"The completion of the 3G trial marks a major step in the migration to next-generation mobile communications services in Hong Kong," said Mr. Jonathan Yip, General Manager, Nokia Networks, Nokia (H.K.) Limited. "Sharing the same vision to make the Internet a pervasive tool for everyone, Nokia and Cable & Wireless HKT Mobile Services will continue working hand-in-hand to bring the latest technology and quality services to local mobile users."

Cable & Wireless HKT, a Cable & Wireless company, is Hong Kong's major full-service communications provider, marketing a full array of quality voice and data telecommunication services backed by a state-of-the-art, fully digital fibre-optic network. Services include basic telephony, mobile telephony, international calls, specialised fax and data products, value-added services, Internet access, multimedia services, satellite links and telecommunications equipment and systems.

Nokia is paving the way to the Mobile Information Society with its innovative products and solutions. The company is the leading mobile phone supplier and a leading supplier of mobile, fixed and IP networks, related services as well as multimedia terminals. In 1999, Nokia's net sales totaled EUR 19.8 billion (USD 19.9 billion). Headquartered in Finland, Nokia is listed on the New York (NOK), Helsinki, Stockholm, London, Frankfurt and Paris stock exchanges and employs more than 56 000 people.

Notes: The completion of the 3G trials indicate the capabilities of the experimental network in supporting high-speed data transmission. Enhanced call quality with minimal call drop rates, and stable call performance is assured, due to the success of multi-cell reception and various handover techniques in the unique high-density HK environment. Optimal power adjustment and interference control are two other notable achievements of the second phase trial. They are invaluable for network planning and intelligent power control in a future 3G environment, because of their contribution in maximising network capacity and upgrading call transmission performance.

OffDuty.com will advertise these services to their distribution base via their bi-monthly publication, Off Duty Magazine and via their Web site.

OffDuty.com publishes a magazine distributed to roughly 550,000 active and retired military personnel and operates a Web portal targeted to this same audience. The publication carries significant influence as well as a long history with the military community -- a customer base with high group identity and loyalty. Military personnel are heavy users of communication products in order to stay in touch with friends and family. This demand coupled with the price sensitivity of this market makes the military segment a well-suited one for a low cost pre-paid telephony product.

"This contract focuses on the basics -- revenue," said Maya Crothers, Vice President of Marketing & Business Development. "We fully intend to earn revenue, while we build out our Virtual Private Network (VPN) at a rapid speed. We are thrilled with the strategic alliance with Off Duty for two reasons: Off Duty is a well read, and highly supported publication and the distribution base of 550,000 offers NetVoice a large community to service with a variety of our low cost telephony products."