Europe : 3, the mobile media company, today announces the launch of a new range of great value price plans designed for small businesses.  The new Office Share Plans offer SOHO and SME companies total flexibility in their mobile working. 

 The Office Share Plans give individuals the ability to satisfy their own needs whilst still getting the cost benefits of a shared package.  These simple, flexible plans ensure small companies can make the most efficient use of their mobile spend, by allowing employees to share voice, text and data bundles under one price plan.

 n a first for the UK, 3 is including Windows Live™ Messenger and voicemail in the Office Share Plans, as well as free 3 to 3 calls.  3 recently launched it’s “3 like home” international roaming offer, which is also part of the Office Share packages meaning customers can make calls while on 3's sister networks abroad, using the existing minutes, text and data bundles without accruing additional charges.  These features ensure employees of small companies can be in contact with each other for no extra cost.

 Office Share Plans

3 is launching five Office Share plans.  Four of the packages offer a voice, text and data bundle and one is a data-only package offering low-cost mobile email and web-browsing.  The plans start at one employee with a tiered approach allowing up to 20 devices to share an Office Share 4000.  Each plan charges a single monthly access fee, with a simple ₤15 fee for each employee using the service. In line with 3’s reputation for great value, customers taking out a 24 month contract will receive 10% off the additional user fee.

	Office Share 1000	Office Share 2000	Office Share 3000	Office Share 4000	Web & Mail Share 3GB
Maximum number of handsets	5	10	15	20	5
Monthly access change	£34	£74	£114	£154	£84
Monthly sharer member fee, for each handset	£15	£15	£15	£15	£15
Total Inclusive Business Choice Flexible Allowance to share. 1 minute = 2 texts = 0.5MB	Up to 1000 UK mins OR 2000 UK texts or 500MB	Up to 2000 UK mins OR 4000 UK texts or 1000MB	Up to 3000 UK mins OR 6000 UK texts or 1500MB	Up to 4000 UK mins OR 8000 UK texts or 2000MB	3GB
3 to 3 UK calls	FREE	FREE	FREE	FREE	FREE

 The price plans are designed to allow small companies to benefit from great value voice calls, texts and data, taking advantage of the full range of 3’s entertainment services.  For example the Office Share 1000 plan, targeted at up to five employees, allows free calls to any other 3 UK customer as well as up to 1000 shared minutes or 2000 texts or 500MB of data. 

 With the inclusive flexible allowance to share, one minute equals two texts, or 0.5MB.  If customers go over these limits then calls are charged at a flat rate of 16p per minute as well as 8p for a UK text or 32p per MB of data.  The Office Share Plans are all available on either 12, 18 or 24 month contracts.

 John Penberthy-Smith, 3 UK, Marketing Director, said:

 “3 is the challenger brand in the UK and with our Office Share Plans we are doing for small business what we did for consumers - offering great value and easy to understand price plans.  We already have a lot of SOHO and small businesses on our consumer price plans and they wanted more from us.  We looked at their requirements and what the market was offering and we have designed plans offering more flexibility and greater value, as well as bundling in Windows Live Messenger, data and free 3–to-3 calls.  As the largest 3G network, 3 is proud to be offering this exciting and comprehensive new range of price plans targeted at small businesses.“

 Office Share handsets

The groundbreaking Office Share Plans are available on the leading range of 3G handsets including the Nokia E61, Nokia N73 and Nokia 6233 as well as the Sony Ericsson K800i.  These handsets are available at a range of price points.  The Web&Mail 3GB plan is designed for use with a 3 datacard.

 The handsets were chosen for the Office Share Plan range on the basis of their suitability for the business customer, ease of use and the rich range of features they support.