Hutch, WhatsApp break new ground

I’m surprised this didn’t get more exposure than it did. Hutchison Hong Kong has come up with a smart deal with WhatsApp: for about US$1 a month you get unlimited data in your WhatsApp package.

Separately, Hutch is offering a WhatsApp roaming package for HK$48 ($6.16) a day, including 5MB free data.

That’s the equivalent of between eight to 12 SMS in Australia, or 16 SMS in China - nothing special,  but well below the HK$68 per day data deal that Hutch offers to a number of destinations. It's that ability to lower both text and data costs is what will draw in users of what is a wildly popular app.

For WhatsApp it's a way of getting users to go beyond just texting, as well as building a relationship with a big carrier. 

You’d think this is one that will be watched closely by any other operator trying to figure out partner with the OTT world, i.e., all of them. 

Hutch has a track record in preferring to deal with OTTs rather than ignore them. In 2005, broadband arm HGC became the first fixed-line brand to hook up with Skype.