24th February , 2004

Europe UK : 3, the UK's only video mobile operator, is set to shake-up the pre-paid market in the UK with the launch of ThreePay its first Pay-As-You-Go offer to customers on Monday 23rd February.

3 will offer Pay-As-You-Go customers the same great value price plans it already offers its contract customers, along with the unique same price, anytime, any network voice minutes.

ThreePay customers can chose from three top-up vouchers, all of which have a validity period of 30 days from activation:

Voucher* Voice call minutes Value allowance**
£15 top-up 100 minutes £1.50
£25 top-up 500 minutes £1.50
£35 top-up 750 minutes £1.50

This combination will save money for most typical Pay-As-You-Go customers currently spending more than £15 per month with another network operator.

The launch of Pay-As-You-Go is in line with 3's strategy of broadening its offer and introducing the maximum number of consumers to video-calling. With ThreePay, 3 is now addressing 65% of the UK mobile market instead of the 35% it had been reaching previously with just its contract proposition.

ThreePay will initially be available on the Motorola A835.

3 today published a study reviewing the UK's Pay-As-You-Go market; the study found that many Pay-As-You-Go customers are paying far more than they would on a contract. Furthermore, due to the complicated tariffs and various charges, 43% of Pay-As-You-Go customers don't know how much they are really paying for their calls.

Bob Fuller, Chief Executive of 3, said: "3's challenge as the new-entrant is to shake up a stale and unimaginative market; to find ways of delivering better value to consumers. We have put an end to the Pay-As-You-Go practice of charging punitive prices for cross-network, peak-time calls. Our offer is fair, simple and excellent value. The calls cost the same no matter what time it is, or which network you're calling. What's more, we are not punishing customers for paying up front; we are offering them the same value available to our contract customers."

Gareth Jones, Chief Operating Officer of 3, said: "ThreePay offers excellent value to the customer. The likelihood is that if you are currently buying more than one £10 voucher a month will be better off on ThreePay. It is Pay-As-You-Go as it always should have been. No-one else in the industry has dared offer such good value to pre-paying customers. 3 has taken up that challenge and we're proud to be leading the way with ThreePay."

* Top-ups have a 30-day validity period.
** Value allowance is a monetary credit on top-up vouchers that may be used
for any service including voice and video-calling.

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