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Hutchison Telecommunications International Ltd (HTIL), the telecom vehicle of Hong Kong- based billionaire Li Ka-shing's Hutchison Whampoa group operates in India under at least six different group companies. A major tasks for the company, before it goes for its impending IPO, is to consolidate the companies as Hutchison Max Telecom, its wireless licensee for the Mumbai entity.

Hutch has a pan-India presence with licenses to operate in 14 circles, up from the single license it started with in Mumbai. Apart from the operations in its existing 11 circles, Hutch started services in Punjab during the last quarter of FY 2003–04. The company registered revenues of Rs 2,701 crore in FY 2003–04 against Rs 1,735 crore in FY 2002–03. The subscriber base touched 5.15 million in FY 2003–04 registering a growth of 138 percent over the previous financial year.

Recently, Hutch sprang a surprise with the acquisition of Sivasankaran-promoted Aircel for the Chennai circle, at an estimated price of Rs 1,600 crore. Hutch now operates in all the metros.

Hutchison is a different company on two counts. It is the only MNC operator who has serious long-term commitment in the Indian GSM market. And, its Indian assets are called ‘crown jewels´ of Hutch's global telecom assets. HTIL has an estimated net investment (including equity and reinvestment) of $1.23 billion in the country.

Its impending IPO, estimated at Rs 1,500 crore, is touted as the country's largest telecom IPO. After the IPO, HTIL Hong Kong will ultimately hold 42 percent in the Indian operations. The other feature that distinguishes Hutch from its rivals is that it has maintained its position as a pure-play GSM service provider. While all other players have integrated offerings and have leveraged on cross-selling, Hutch has not only steadfastly maintained its focus but has actually managed to score over its rivals by registering the highest ARPUs. Hutch's ARPU at Rs 534 is the highest amongst all GSM operators in the country. Its Mumbai operation is the most lucrative with a high ARPU of Rs 608.27.

Hutch's profitability is not surprising considering that the company had realized early on the importance of having high-value customers. As opposed to its competitors, Hutch has always had a decidedly post-paid tilt in its marketing strategy.

Second, it realized the importance of offering value-added services for higher-value customers. It was amongst the earliest operators to launch GPRS campaigns, immediately striking a chord with showing Rahul Dravid striking the ball, on a mobile phone screen. Its aggressive GPRS positioning has helped it to garner over 50 percent of the country's GPRS customer base.

With an estimated 18 percent of its revenues coming from value-added services, the company has constantly rolled out new offerings. Push2talk, click&print, mobile gaming, and accessing emails are some that have become extremely popular among users. Most of these offerings come for a fixed rental of Rs 99.

Gaming forms an extremely important plank in the VAS strategy of the company. The company has launched about 250 Java-based games and has an estimated 120,000 downloads per month.

Although Hutch was relatively less passionate about its pre-paid category, there was no way it could afford to ignore it. In May 2003, Hutch signed agreements with leading banks that would enable its prepaid users to replenish airtime by simply sending an SMS or by using the refill options at one of the banks´ ATMs. The campaign, called Direct Top-up, gave subscribers flexibility to refill airtime for any amount from Rs 315 to as much as Rs 5,000.