Hutchison Telecommunications International Limited (‘Hutchison Telecom’ or ‘the Group’) (Former stock code: SEHK: 2332) is a leading global provider of telecommunications services. The Group currently offers mobile and fixed-line telecommunication services in Hong Kong and Israel, and operates mobile telecommunications services in Indonesia, Vietnam, Sri Lanka and Thailand. It was the first provider of 3G mobile services in Hong Kong, Macau and Israel, operates brands including Hutch, 3 and Vietnamobile.

Hutchison Telecom provide GSM services in Vietnam, Sri Lanka and CDMA technology services in Indonesia and Thailand.

Hutchison Telecom was a listed company with American Depositary Shares quoted on the New York Stock Exchange and shares listed on the Stock Exchange of Hong Kong. In May 2010, however, the stocks were delisted as Hutchison Telecom became a fully owned subsidiary of the Hong Kong-based Hutchison Whampoa Group.^[1]

History[link]

In 1999 and 2000, Hutchison Telecom sold its Orange and VoiceStream interests and re-invested the greater part of the proceeds to develop its global third-generation (3G) mobile broadband telecommunications business, based on the European UMTS (W-CDMA) 3G standard.

In early 2007, Hutchison Telecom made headlines by selling its 67% interest in the Indian mobile phone network Hutch Essar to Vodafone for US$13.1 billion (of which $2 billion was debt).

In 2009, Hutchison sold its controlling stake in Orange Israel to Scailex Corporation.Thus it ended using the Orange brand for providing mobile services.

In 2009, it spun off Hutchison Telecommunications Hong Kong Holdings (SEHK: 215) to be listed on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange.^[2][3]

Company structure[link]

Hutchison Telecom was formerly listed on the stock exchanges of Hong Kong (SEHK) and New York (NYSE).^[4] It is fully owned by Hutchison Whampoa. Another significant shareholder is Cheung Kong Holdings, which also has a large stake in Hutchison Whampoa.

3G[link]

Hutchison Telecom's parent company, Hutchison Whampoa, led the development 3G services under the 3 brand. It was first to roll out commercial 3G services based on high speed mobile video telephony, streaming and downloads, as well as music, voice and data services. Hutchison Whampoa Limited currently holds 3G licences in eleven markets: Australia, Austria, Denmark, Indonesia, Ireland, Italy, Macau, Norway, Sri Lanka, Sweden and the UK

Hutchison India[link]

Hutchison Essar Limited started operations under the brand name "Orange" in Mumbai. In other states it was marketed under "Hutch" brand. It was then changed to "Hutch" nationwide when they expanded rapidly to become the third largest mobile service provider in India and furthered its market share through the acquisition of BPL, Fascel, Command & Aircel Digilink. On March 31, 2007 Hutch Essar sold its 67.1% stake to Vodafone.

Hutchison Orange Israel[link]

Even after selling the Orange Brand to France Telecom, they used Orange brand in Israel. Recently they have sold the controlling stake in this venture to Scailex Corporation. Thus it ends the story of Orange brand associated with Hutchison Telecom. Though Scailex Corp are still using this brand for their Operations.

Hutchison Telecom Sri Lanka[link]

The company's Sri Lankan operation, commonly known as Hutch, is the country's youngest and smallest operator, but is growing fast. The company recently introduced GPRS feature on its network and also an air time sharing system called "me2u" for transferring credit from one Hutch phone to another. Currently, Hutch Sri Lanka offers only prepaid mobile phone connections. 2012 February Hutch launched 3G servises in Sri Lanka.

3 Indonesia[link]

In July 2005, Hutchison Telecom acquired a 60% equity stake in PT Hutchison CP Telecommunications ("Hutchison CP Telecom" or "HCPT"; formerly known as PT Cyber Access Communications) from the Charoen Pokphand Group Indonesia. In 2006, HCPT announced that it retained Siemens to design, build and operate state-of-the-art 2G and 3G nationwide wireless networks. HCPT launched its commercial services on 30 March 2007 under the 3 brand.

Indonesia is an extremely attractive wireless market with a sizable population and a relatively low mobile penetration rate. It is an excellent example of Hutchison Telecom's vision and strategy in achieving growth in emerging markets.

At the end of September 2009, HCPT's customer base grew to approximately 7.3 million.

Vietnamobile[link]

In July 2004, Hutchison Telecommunications (Vietnam) S.à r.l. ("Hutchison Telecom Vietnam"), a wholly owned subsidiary of Hutchison Telecom, entered into a business cooperation contract with Hanoi Telecom Joint Stock Company. In February 2005, Hutchison Telecom was granted an investment licence by the government for the project and in January 2007, launched CDMA service under the brand HT Mobile.

While they offered a superior network, the market uptake was greatly hampered by the lack of affordable CDMA handsets, in particular, those with the Vietnamese language option, coupled with the trend of leading manufacturers to scale back handset development for this market.

On 8 March 2008 they received government approval to convert from CDMA technology to GSM. After the successful conversion, it launched GSM services in April 2009 under the new brand "Vietnamobile". The brand surpassed the one million customer mark within six months of launch, mostly in the prepaid segment.

Vietnam offers some of the highest growth potential in the region.

Hutch Thailand[link]

In 2000, Hutchison Telecom and CAT Telecom Public Company Limited ("CAT Telecom") entered into a joint venture by establishing Hutchison CAT Wireless MultiMedia Ltd. ("Hutchison CAT") to provide exclusive marketing services for CAT Telecom’s CDMA mobile telecommunications in 25 provinces located in the Bangkok Metropolitan Area and in central, east coast and west coast regions of Thailand.

In 2003, Hutchison CAT launched marketing services for CAT Telecom’s CDMA mobile services under the brand Hutch, providing high speed voice and data wireless service to customers.

References[link]

External links[link]

Hutchison Telecommunications International Limited[

International Limited
A Via Rail EMD F40PH leads the International with Amtrak superliner coach cars into East Lansing in 1996.
Overview
Type	Inter-city rail
System	Amtrak
Locale	Midwestern United States Eastern Ontario
Termini	Chicago, Illinois, United States Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Operation
Opened	1900
Closed	2004
Operator(s)	Amtrak/Via
Technical
Line length	502 mi (807.89 km)
Track gauge	1,435 mm (4 ft 8 1⁄2 in)
Route map Legend 0 Chicago Illinois/Indiana border Indiana/Michigan border 89 mi (140 km) Niles 102 mi (160 km) Dowagiac 138 mi (220 km) Kalamazoo 160 mi (260 km) Battle Creek 208 mi (330 km) East Lansing 238 mi (380 km) Durand 256 mi (410 km) Flint 274 mi (440 km) Lapeer 319 mi (510 km) Port Huron Canada/United States border 321 mi (520 km) Sarnia 360 mi (580 km) Strathroy 380 mi (610 km) London 402 mi (650 km) St. Marys 413 mi (660 km) Stratford 439 mi (710 km) Kitchener 453 mi (730 km) Guelph 472 mi (760 km) Georgetown 480 mi (770 km) Brampton 487 mi (780 km) Malton 502 mi (810 km) Toronto

The International Limited was a named passenger train operated between Chicago and Toronto, Ontario. It was originally operated by the Grand Trunk Railway of Canada and its succesors the Canadian National Railway and Grand Trunk Western Railroad. When the route was revived in 1982, it was operated jointly by Via Rail and Amtrak. The Amtrak service was discontinued on April 25, 2004, due to decreasing ridership: down from 125,126 in 1997 to just 88,045 in 2003^[1]

History[link]

CN/GTW operation[link]

The International Limited operating on the Grand Trunk Railway ca. 1909

When the Canadian National and Grand Trunk Western controlled the operations of train number 14, the International Limited, from Chicago's Dearborn Station to Montreal's Central Station, the train was around 12 cars long, including GTW & CNR Baggage-express cars (two), CNR Coaches (five), CNR named 12-1 Pullman Sleepers (three), CNR 8-1-2 named Pullman Sleeper (one), and last but not least, an unusual 2-3-1 Buffet, Lounge, Solarium from the CNR. It departed from Chicago's Dearborn Station at 8:00 pm behind a GTW U4-b 6400 Northern type steam locomotive. At Port Huron, St. Clair Tunnel Company electrics would pull the train through the tunnel to Sarnia, Ontario, where a CNR 5700 class Hudson (4-6-4 wheel arrangement) or a CNR 6400 class Streamlined Confederation (4-8-4 wheel arrangement) would take the train to Montreal. The 15 hour train ride left Chicago at 8:00 pm and arrived in Montreal at around 11:00 am the next morning. The train left daily stopping at Chicago, Sarnia, Toronto, and Montreal as well as a variety of other stops along the way. A second section operated in the opposite direction as train number, leaving Montreal and travelling to Chicago as, stopping at the same stations along the way running as train number 13. The Chicago to Montreal section is shown in the photograph behind a CNR 5700 class Hudson.

Amtrak/Via operation (International)[link]

Amtrak and Via Rail revived the International Limited in 1982 by extending Amtrak's Blue Water Limited, which then terminated at Port Huron, to Toronto. In contrast to its predecessor it used ex-Penn Central west of Battle Creek, Michigan, in common with Amtrak's other Michigan trains. At the beginning both Amtrak and Via equipment was used; Amtrak typically using diesels and Amfleet coaches while Via used LRCs and Tempo coaches. The first train departed Chicago on October 31, 1982. On June 13, 1983 Amtrak renamed the train the International, which it carried until its discontinuance.^[2]

Via Rail re-routed the International off its original CN route in 1990 to a more northerly route. This new route enabled it to service Kitchener, Ontario but added an hour to its running time. Toward the end of the decade Amtrak considered running the train via Durand and Detroit, dropping Flint and Port Huron, but nothing came of this proposal.^[3]

The train consisted of two or three coaches and a food-service / custom class car combination. The train was powered alternately by a Via Rail or an Amtrak F40PH locomotive and the cars could be any combination of Amtrak's Heritage, Amfleet I and II, or Horizon Fleet coaches or by cars provided by Via. From Monday through Saturday, the opposing trains ran as Amtrak-Via train numbers 364 and 365. On Sundays however, they ran as train numbers 366 and 367. By 1995, both trains usually ran with a set of 4 to 5 Superliners.

In later years, Amtrak P42 locomotives replaced the F40s. In 2002, they mainly only consisted of Horizon Fleet and Amfleet coaches because the Superliner's were in for extensive renovation. The train was discontinued in 2004 due to falling ridership. Via Rail still runs trains on the route between Toronto and Sarnia, Ontario, while Amtrak replaced its portion of the service with the Chicago-Port Huron, Michigan Blue Water.

Notes[link]

References[link]

• Geletzke, Charles H. (May 2004). "Grand Trunk Western 6400s in Action". CN Lines: pp. 17–20. 
• Hediger, Jim, and Andy Sperandeo (May 2003). "8 Pike-Size Passenger Trains". Model Railroader (Kalmbach Publishing): pp. 48–53. 
• Holland, Kevin J (May 2004). "The Streamlined 6400s". CN Lines: pp. 10–16. 
• Sanders, Craig (2006). Amtrak in the Heartland. Indiana University Press. ISBN 0-253-34705-X.