New World Mobility this week demonstrated its video phone offerings and is planning a commercial launch in the next few weeks.
Hong Kong's fourth-largest mobile phone network, a wholly owned subsidiary of New World Development, has teamed up with United States-based PacketVideo, which is providing the software for the service.
New World Mobility chief executive Norman Wai Fung-man said he believed New World would be among the first networks in the world to launch streaming video over mobile phones.
The service uses New World's general packet radio service (GPRS) network, which allows data transmissions of up to about 50 kilobits per second, nearly equivalent to a dial-up Internet line. New World passed on bidding for a third-generation (3G) licence last year, which would have allowed it to build a network supporting much higher speeds.
Some European operators are testing video telephone services. NTT DoCoMo of Japan has also announced plans to work with PacketVideo.
Mr Wai said New World Mobility had been developing and testing the service for more than a year and had delayed the launch in order to coincide with the launch of video-ready handsets.
'We're still waiting for some handset availability before we make it happen. The only thing we haven't announced is the tariff,' Mr Wai said.