News
Release

SmarTone's Excellent Customer Service Further Validated by
Next Magazine's 14th Top Service Award 2003

(26 June 2003, Hong Kong) - SmarTone Mobile Communications Limited's commitment to providing the best customer service is further validated by its winning the 14th Top Service Award 2003 from Next Magazine, with the awards being:
  - "Top Service Gold Award",
- "Top Service Award" - Telecommunications Network Service Provider Category,
- Champion of "The Best Staff Award"

According to Mr. Douglas Li, Chief Executive Officer of SmarTone, "The growing number of service awards that SmarTone has won in the past 18 months reflects the consistent high standard of customer service of our whole front-line team. It also exemplifies SmarTone as a leader in customer service, not only amongst telecom operators, but also across all service industries."

"Together with our best dual-band network, superior and easy-to-use products and services (e.g. , and ) and award-winning customer service, SmarTone continues to provide the best customer experience and help our customers 'Get Closer' to the people, the information, and the entertainment that are important to them," added Mr. Li.

Among the 19 winning companies, each of which was the winner of their respective categories, SmarTone received the highest number of votes and thus won the Top Service Gold Award. It is the first time that Next Magazine has introduced The Best Staff Award, and SmarTone's nominated staff, Karen Poon is the champion of such award, amongst competitors from winning companies of 19 categories, due to her outstanding customer service skills.

The Top Service Award programme of Next Magazine sets the benchmark for service quality and business excellence. The objectives of this annual programme are to recognise companies and individuals with outstanding performance and to upgrade the service standard of all industries and businesses in Hong Kong. A total of 197 companies, grouped into 19 categories, were nominated via a public telephone survey to participate in this year's programme. The assessment of these participating companies was conducted via open voting by the general public only.

The list of retail and service industry awards won by SmarTone from 2000 to present include:

June 2003 14th Top Service Award 2003 of Next Magazine
  • Top Service Gold Award
  • Top Service Award - Telecommunications Network Service Provider Category
  • Champion of The Best Staff Award
April 2003 35th Distinguished Salesperson Award of the Hong Kong Management Association
April 2003 Customer Relationship Excellence Awards of Asia Pacific Customer Service Consortium
  • 2002 Customer Relationship Excellence - Outstanding Achievement
  • 2002 Call Center of the Year (Telecommunications)
  • 2002 Customer Service Professional of the Year
March 2003 Mystery Shoppers Programme of the Hong Kong Retail Management Association
  • Service Category Leader under the Electronic & Electrical Appliances / Telecommunications Category (November 2002 to January 2003)
November 2002 Mystery Shoppers Programme of the Hong Kong Retail Management Association
  • Service Retailer of the Year 2002 under the Electronic & Electrical Appliances / Telecommunications Category
October 2002 2002 Service and Courtesy Award of the Hong Kong Retail Management Association
  • Special Award - Best Team Performance
  • Junior Frontline Level - Specialty Stores Category Award
October 2002 Hong Kong Call Center Awards of Hong Kong Call Center Association
  • Call Center Team Leader - Silver Award
  • Call Center Team Leader - Bronze Award
  • Call Center Professional - Bronze Award
June 2002 34th Distinguished Salesperson Award of the Hong Kong Management Association
March 2002 Mystery Shoppers Programme of the Hong Kong Retail Management Association
  • Service Category Leader under the Electronic & Electrical Appliances / Telecommunications Category (November 2001 to January 2002)
October 2001 2001 Service and Courtesy Award of the Hong Kong Retail Management Association
  • Special Award - Best Team Performance
  • Supervisory Level - Specialty Stores Category Award
June 2001 33rd Distinguished Salesperson Award of the Hong Kong Management Association
June 2000 32nd Distinguished Salesperson Award of the Hong Kong Management Association

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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.

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
Senior Executive - Corporate Communications
Tel: (852) 3128 2241 / 9169 4552
Email: desiree_chan@hksmartone.com