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Technology Stocks : Qualcomm Moderated Thread - please read rules before posting -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: slacker711 who wrote (41297)	6/28/2004 10:11:05 AM
From: slacker711	Respond to of 196989

Hutchison could break even soon on 3G mobile operations: CEO news.yahoo.com 1 hour, 55 minutes ago Add Technology - AFP to My Yahoo! MILAN (AFP) - Hutchison Whampoa chief executive Canning Fok said the group's third-generation mobile telephone operations could break even earlier than first thought. AFP/File Photo In an interview with Monday's edition of the Italian daily Corriere della Sera, Fok also urged the government not to discriminate against foreign investors, adding that Hutchison is ready to put money into ports and distribution. Concerning next generation mobile service, also known as 3G, he told the newspaper: "I have always said that the breakeven at the EBITDA (core earnings) level will be reached in 2005, and breakeven at the operating level in 2006. "But seen how it is going now, we could be quicker. "Then, once it is fully operational, I expect 3G to contribute between 35-40 percent of group sales." Hutchison owns the H3G mobile operator in Italy. The Hong-Kong based group has launched 3G in Austria, Australia, Britain, Denmark, Hong Kong, Italy and Sweden, the newspaper said. In Italy, Fok said the government's subsidising of broadband fixed telecom services puts H3G on an unequal footing because it has to make enormous investments to compete. Another issue in Italy is the way H3G has waited three years for a 500-million-euro (600 million dollar) value-added tax reimbursement which it would have received within only a few weeks in other European countries, he said. Three years of experience in Italy with 3G has nonetheless led Hutchison to look at other sectors, he said. "Now after three years, we have the people, we know how the system functions and we are starting to look at other possibilities for investment. "We are particularly interested in container ports and commercial distribution. There is a team at work," he said. As far as buying ENEL's telecom unit Wind however, Fok said Hutchison has no interest in acquiring second generation mobile telecoms operators.