Hutchison Whampoa plans to float its mobile phone unit 3 Italia, making it the first operator using purely 3G technology to issue an IPO. Investors are particularly nervous given the recent profit warnings pervading the European telecommunications market. This could be the ultimate test as to whether investors have any faith in the 3G market yet, but it's further complicated by investor doubts about the market as a whole. 3 Italia claims about 5.5 million high-margin customers, or about 8 percent of Italy's mobile market, and has grabbed these customers through strong marketing and free mobile-phone offers.
For more about Hutchison Whampoa's IPO plans:
- check out this article from The Wall Street Journal (sub. req.)