OXFORD, United Kingdom—Having struck a deal to use mm02’s second-generation (2G) network to support its Universal Mobile Telecommunications System (UMTS) deployment in the United Kingdom, the Hong Kong-back Hutchison 3G (H3G) has revealed further details of its third-generation (3G) plans for Italy and the United Kingdom.
The company has confirmed that it plans to launch 3G services in Italy in September 2002, including voice, video telephony, audio and video messaging, location services and Internet access. The firm, which recently made much of its confidence in 3G technology, said it will use the run-up to Christmas next year to launch a significant marketing campaign to inform and attract new subscribers to the service.
Meanwhile, H3G in the United Kingdom is thought to be seriously considering the purchase of a chain of retail outlets, most probably Phones 4U, which has 255 shops across the United Kingdom. The move is being seen as necessary for the company given that it has no subscribers in the country and would provide it with an immediate presence on the high street and raise consumer awareness of H3G services.
