With more than one million customers and 99.9 per cent coverage in the Hong Kong region, SmarTone-Vodafone, Hong Kong's leading mobile operator, is driving 3G usage by engaging customers with new exciting services and leveraging its 3G network.

Li says: "We probably spend more effort and devote more resources on focusing on the customer experience.  We're engaging the customer with new services, especially multimedia."

The effort is showing results. In a saturated market, Li and SmarTone-Vodafone are focusing on the customers they want to attract, serve and retain. He says: "That's the most critical thing. Because growth in just pure numbers is meaningless and therefore you really want to identify the kind of customers that you desire and that you think you can serve best."

SmarTone-Vodafone, which launched 3G services in 2004, already offers downloads, music and streaming services, and services for identifiable communities, but as more and more consumers use 3G handsets, it is seeing growth in its 3G services as well.

SmarTone-Vodafone's most popular 3G service is news. Its proposition is that SmarTone-Vodafone offers the most up-to-date news as quickly as possible.  If there is video then it is provided, but often for breaking news there isn't, so text is provided instead.

Other services in the pipeline include mobile TV, but Li is conservative about expectations. He says: "There are limited circumstances and particular conditions under which the customers might use mobile TV. We need to discover what context will really drive usage."

Li and SmarTone-Vodafone are not sitting still though and are looking to the future to keep customers satisfied. He notes that different customers have different characteristics, requirements and tastes. "Consequently I think we are looking at different communities and we need to offer specifically tailored services for each of these communities," he says.

Part of the plan for doing this involves improving the network capabilities by evolving to an all-IP network. Aside from the cost advantages of an all-IP network, Li is looking forward to offering new services because of IP's flexibility. "Having different enablers work efficiently together and operational flexibility are a critical benefits of all IP."

During SmarTone-Vodafone's evolution to an all-IP network, Li is relying on Ericsson's technological leadership. He says: "Ericsson has the personnel, resources, and tremendous breadth and depth of knowledge in their field. I think they work with us very closely, and that the partnership spirit is very important. We are forever searching for new things, new ways of doing things, better ways of doing things; that's how we leverage on each other's skill set and experience to deliver great services and products with telecom quality to customers."