Hutchison Whampoa is stepping up efforts to market its third-generation (3G) mobile phone services in Italy with a plan to give away video-phone handsets, starting next week.
Hutchison subsidiary 3 Italia will give the free handsets to new customers who spend at least 30 euros (HK$260) per month and pay a 99 euro sign-up fee before the end of next month. The unit has already signed up 300,000 users to its services.
The new offer, which is similar to a promotion offered in Britain in June, comes after 3 Italia said it ran out of handsets this month.
Hutchison ordered 700,000 3G handsets earlier this year.
Analysts said they were not surprised by the marketing move. 'Ramping up subscribers needs some aggressive incentives, and to this extent it was expected,' Nomura Securities Ng Kong-yang said.
Yesterday, the Li Ka-shing-controlled Italian subsidiary said it expected two models each from NEC and Motorola to arrive within the next few weeks to fill orders.