Hutchison Telecommunications Hong Kong is preparing to launch its 4G mobile network “within the first half of this year” to meet rising demand for high-speed, wireless data services in the city. Chief Executive Peter Wong said the timing would depend on the wider availability of devices that supported the network. The operator, a unit of conglomerate Hutchison Whampoa, formed a joint venture called Genius Brand with HKT, the telecom arm of PCCW, which won a government license in 2009 to deliver citywide 4G services on a block of radio spectrum in the 2.6 gigahertz (GHz) band. Wong’s 4G announcement followed that of HKT Group Managing Director Alex Arena, who said last month that HKT was ready to roll out its 4G services by the middle of this year. Huawei Technologies was contracted by Genius Brand in August last year to build and deploy an advanced mobile infrastructure based on the 4G standard “frequency-division duplexing, long-term evolution” (LTE). Wong said Hutchison Telecom had not yet drawn up plans to develop another 4G network on its own that would deliver services based on the 4G standard called “time-division duplexing LTE”. The company last month won a license to operate 4G services on a block of spectrum in the 2.3 GHz band, which it had acquired for HKD150 million in a government tender. Hutchison Telecom, which operates both wireless and fixed-line networks, reported a 35% increase in net profit to HKD1.02 billion last year from HKD755 million in 2010. The result was fueled by record growth in smart-phone sales and data usage in its mobile business, while its fixed-line business achieved steady gains, the South China Morning Post reports.