Hutchison Teams up With Investor AB to Bid for 3G Licence in SwedenHong Kong-based conglomerate Hutchison Whampoa Ltd. said Thursday in Hong Kong it has teamed up with Investor AB to set up a consortium to apply for a third-generation (3G) mobile-phone licence in Sweden.Hutchison, controlled by tycoon Li Ka-shing, will take a 60 percent stake in the proposed consortium and Investor AB, Sweden's largest investment holding company, the remaining 40 percent, the firms said in a joint statement. Hutchison has also teamed up with Canada-based Telsystems International Wireless (TIW) in a joint venture to bid for one of four 3G new generation mobile licences to be awarded by the French goverment, the South China Morning Post said. The two companies won one of five 3G mobile licences auctioned in Britain in late April. Hutchison has a 90.1 percent in in the joint venture and TIW the remainder. It has also reported to have submitted a bid in a 3G licence auction being held in Switzerland through subsidiary Hutchison 3G Europe Investments and earlier submitted a bid in a German 3G auction. The 3G mobile phone systems will take over from the present GSM mobile-phone standard and are expected to start operating from 2002. |
| People's Daily Online --- http://www.peopledaily.com.cn/english/ |