Page 21 - Sphere No.17 (Sep 2006)

SPHERE 19
PHOTO ABOVE CENTER: GETTY IMAGES
officer and now chief executive of both CitiPower
and Powercor. Bob Stobbe went from being the chief
financial officer at ETSA to the same position at Citi-
Power and Powercor and is now chief executive of
the listed investment company Spark Infrastructure,
a fund that holds the remaining 49 per cent share-
holding in ETSA, CitiPower and Powercor and in
which CKI holds a 9.9 per cent stake.
CKI also has investments in toll roads – the
Cross City and Lane Cove tunnels and roads
– in Sydney, the busy capital of New South Wales,
which is characterised by heavy traffic demands.
In addition to infrastructure investment, in 2003 Hutchison
introduced Australia’s first third generation network and mo-
bile service – 3. It was also the first to launch cap plans into
the market, giving consumers better value.
Today, after just three short years, 3 has more than one mil-
lion customers who have access to Australia’s largest 3G net-
work for voice, SMS, MMS, e-mail and mobile broadband.
That network stretches across Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane,
Adelaide, Perth and Canberra.
CEO Kevin Russell said, “One million customers are more
than just a number. For 3 it represents scale, credibility and a
platform for changing the way people in Australia use their
mobiles. 3 customers have big appetites for 3G content services.
We’re now seeing strong trends in customer take up of services
such as live mobile TV and music.”
The numbers speak for themselves. In 2005, 70 per cent of
customers browsed content on Planet 3, and 44 per cent sub-
scribed to packs or passes; 3 customers enjoyed more than 50
million content events including two million music events.
They made five million video-calls and accessed four million
horoscope and tarot readings.
“3 has invested heavily in delivering new
content services in the areas that generate the
biggest demand from customers, including mo-
bile TV and music,” said Mr Russell. “Custom-
ers can watch all the live action from the reality
show Big Brother, Channel 9’s broadcast of the
cricket live on their phone, see the highlights
from the World Cup and tune in to BBC World,
CNN, Cartoon Network and other channels.
With the 3 mobile Ashes series between Aus-
tralia and England – 3 sponsors the Australian
team – later this year, demand for live cricket mobile TV is
likely to be high.”
The Group is also heavily involved in the community and a
project that attracts a lot of attention is the Endeavour Austra-
lia Cheung Kong Scholarship Programme that allows univer-
sity students from all over Asia to study in Australia and vice
versa. The five-year programme, in partnership with the Aus-
tralian government, is worth AUD7.5 million (approximately
USD5.62 million) and will provide exchange opportunities to
a total of nearly 1,000 undergraduate and postgraduate stu-
dents. Universities waive the fees and the programme picks up
students’ airfares and living costs. The programme represents
an unprecedented private sector partnership with the Govern-
ment and underscores the Group’s strong corporate ethos in
giving back to the communities it operates in.
Through its diverse investments in infrastructure and tele-
communications, Hutchison has become a major player in
Australia’s flourishing economy as well as a committed member
of the local community. Despite its carefree and casual image, it
is clear that Australia is a serious place for business.
Despite its
carefree and
casual image,
it is clear that
Australia is
a serious place
for business