Hutchison slashes price of UK pocket-phones

HUTCHISON Whampoa's UK telecommunications subsidiary is slashing the price of its pocket-phone equipment and re-directing its marketing strategy.

The Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU) reported yesterday that the company would start selling the CT2 pocket-phones used on its Rabbit network for GBP60 (about HK$660) instead of about GBP200, after sales of the units fell 80 per cent below target in 1992.

CT2 phones can make calls within a few hundred metres of base stations, of which Hutchison Telecom UK has 12,000. They can also make calls in the home if used with a base station.

Hutchison's price of GBP60 will not include a base station, and the company will concentrate on the phone's ability to make calls in public places such as railway stations.

Hutchison's move into telecommunications in the UK in partnership with British Aerospace has been subject to strong criticism by analysts both in Hongkong and the UK. They say the company is pouring cash into phone networks that will never pay back theirinvestment.

Mr James Doherty, product marketing manager for CT2, last night confirmed the substantial price cuts but refused to comment on exact figures.

Mr Doherty also confirmed that the company was about to start an advertising campaign that would portray the CT2 phones as a cheap alternative to cellular phones. The current strategy is to sell them as an up-market alternative to conventional analogue cordless phones used in the home.