News
Release

SmarTone introduces new football betting feature to Mobile Betting Service
and expands football content on

(25 July 2003, Hong Kong) – Appreciating the needs of customers to place bets on football anytime, anywhere as well as to get the latest football news, critical betting information and live match alerts, SmarTone Mobile Communications Limited today announced the introduction of new football betting feature to its Mobile Betting Service and the expansion of football content on .

With effect from 1 August 2003, SmarTone customers can place bets, namely Home Away Draw, Total Goals, Correct Score and All-up Home Away Draw via mobile phones, for the top football leagues in England, Italy, Germany and Spain, etc. Starting 30 July 2003, they can also access to a wide variety of football content, thus becoming well-equipped with all sorts of information for full enjoyment of the upcoming football season.

Not only can customers go to >> >> Money, Money >> Football to browse the latest football news, real-time match results and odds as well as other information through “Football News”, “Bet To Win” and “Wapslot Football Information”, but they can also subscribe to the “Live Match Alert” service to receive breaking news of football matches via SMS. In addition to the pre-match information like fixtures and head-to-head historical results, “Live Match Alert” provides real-time information like goal and half-time/ full-time results. Customers can simply subscribe to a single package to receive both pre- and during match information, either by team or by match. With “Results & Fixtures Alert” subscription, customers will receive results of the matches held the night before and fixtures of coming major matches via MMS (please refer to Appendix 1 for details).

Alternatively, customers can enjoy real-time match information, tips and “Live Match Alert” subscription through *188 voice service (please also refer to Appendix 1 for details).

“In line with our ‘Get Closer’ customer-oriented strategy to continuously strengthening services to all customer segments, the new football betting service and football content enable our customers, be they mobile betting customers or football fans, to obtain ‘to-the-point’ information and tailored services with ease via WAP or voice service. Together with the SMS and MMS football alerts that keep our customers abreast of what is happening in the football field, SmarTone continues to provide the best service experience and help our customers ‘Get Closer’ to the information and entertainment that is important to them,” said Mr. Douglas Li, Chief Executive Officer of SmarTone.

To complement the rich football content, SmarTone customers can enjoy exclusive wallpaper downloads of Liverpool’s famous football stars and team logo. The charge for each download is HK$3.

While the charge for browsing ’s football content is at a very competitive rate of $0.02 per KB, mobile betting customers will be charged at $1 per SMS on pay-as-you-go basis. There are two SMS combos: (1) $15 for 35 free SMS and (2) $50 for 200 free SMS, available for customers’ selection to best suit their level of usage. During promotional period, first-month free trial of a SMS combo will be offered and the new mobile betting SIM card fee of $100 will be waived. Upon subscription to ”Wapslot Football Information”, “Live Match Alert” or “Results and Fixtures Alert”, customers will get a free copy of <<English Premier League Magazine>> from Oriental Daily News.

For details of the new football betting feature of SmarTone’s Mobile Betting Service and the football content, please call SmarTone’s 24-hour hotline at 2880-2688, visit any SmarTone shop or browse SmarTone’s website at www.smartone.com.hk.

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5 SmarTone shops provide one-stop-shop service - Collect New SIM and Service Activation (till 12 August 2003)

1. G/F, Far East Consortium Building, 113 Des Voeux Road, Central, Hong Kong
2. Shop 130, Plaza Hollywood, Diamond Hill, Kowloon
3. Shop No. 10, G/F, Sim City of Chung Kiu Commercial Building, No. 47-51 Shantung Street, Kowloon
4. UG78 - 79, Metro City Plaza, Phase II, 8 Yan King Road, Tseung Kwan O, New Territories
5. Shop 4, G/F, Yuen Long Trade Center, 99-109 Castle Peak Road, Yuen Long, New Territories

Note: customers can also go to the 10 designated off-course betting centers of Hong Kong Jockey Club to enjoy the aforementioned one-stop-shop service.

SmarTone's Football Content List

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About SmarTone

Established in 1992, SmarTone is a leading provider of mobile communications services in Hong Kong. It is a customer-oriented Company and aims to bring its customers closer to the people, the information and the entertainment that is important to them and, through this, to generate greater shareholders' value.

With our strong technological heritage and deep commitment to quality service, we intend to bring our customers into the new world of 2.5G/3G mobile infotainment and media. With a clear focus on customer needs, we have marketed numerous compelling services which deliver substantial benefits to our customers' recent branded offerings include , , , , , and .

Our commitment to quality service is well recognised in Hong Kong, validated by recent retail and service industry awards.

  Next Magazine's 14th Top Service Award 2003
    Top Service Gold Award
2003
    Top Service Category Award
2003
    Champion of The Best Staff Award
2003
   
  Asia Pacific Customer Service Consortium's Customer Relationship Excellence Awards
    Customer Relationship Excellence - Outstanding Achievement
2002
    Call Center of the Year (Telecommunications)
2002
    Customer Service Professional of the Year
2002
       
  Hong Kong Retail Management Association's Annual Service and Courtesy Awards
    Best Team Award
2001 & 2002
    Supervisory Level Award
2001
    Junior Frontline Level Award
2002
       
  Hong Kong Retail Management Association's Mystery Shoppers Programme
    Service Category Leader
2002 & 2003
    Service Retailer of the Year
2002
       
  Hong Kong Management Association's Distinguished Salesperson Award
    Four SmarTone-nominated staff members won 2003
    Five SmarTone-nominated staff members won
2002
       
  Hong Kong Call Centre Association's Call Centre Award
    Call Centre Team Leader - Silver & Bronze
2002
    Call Centre Professional - Bronze
2002
       

We were the first operator to launch GSM mobile services in Asia in 1993 and the first in Hong Kong to introduce automatic international roaming. We were the first in the world to implement Enhanced Full Rate technology in our network in 1997, greatly improving voice quality for our customers. We were the first in Hong Kong to pilot launch GPRS in 1999.

SmarTone (SEHK: 0315) has been publicly listed in Hong Kong since 1996. The Company's major shareholder is Sun Hung Kai Properties Limited (holding about 51%).

Website address: www.smartone.com.hk

For further information, please contact:

Ms. Helen Kwan
Head of Corporate Communications
Tel: (852) 3128 2255/ 9664 7628
Email: helen_kwan@hksmartone.com
Ms. Desiree Chan
Assistant Manager - Corporate Communications
Tel: (852) 3128 2241 / 9169 4552
Email: desiree_chan@hksmartone.com