Europe Italy : 3 Italia launches X-Series, the first all-inclusive offer to bring the best of Mobile Internet on broadband videophones
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Skype, Yahoo!, Google, eBay, Windows Live and Flickr in one bundle, available on the best videophones: Instant Messaging, e-mail, browsing, VoIP and photosharing from 3 €/week or 9 €/month. X-Series is included and free for Zero5 and Zero7 subscribers.

3 Italia, the Mobile Media Company of the Hutchison Whampoa Group and UMTS European leader with over 7,2 million customers, launches X-Series, the first all-inclusive offer that extends several of the core applications and features of the broadband Internet to the third generation mobile handsets. X-Series will allow 3 Italia customers to communicate, find information and be entertained in ways they have never been able to do before using a mobile handset.

The X-Series from 3 marks the beginning of the mobile broadband at 360°, thanks to the support of the leading Internet companies, cutting-edge handsets from the world’s leading mobile manufacturers.

A recent report by Informa Telecoms&Media forecasts that in five years half of the Internet accesses will be wireless and the number of Internet mobile connections will increase by 17% in 2007. UMTS Forum esteems that mobile broadband 3G users will pass from 150 millions to over 275 millions in 2008, with an average growth of 83%. High Speed Packet Access (HSPA) networks, according to Analysis Research, will become the overriding network for Internet mobile broadband access, with over one billion users within 2012.

Customers will be able to make unlimited calls from their mobile using Skype, have unlimited access to the best of Internet and messaging services from Yahoo! Go for Mobile 2.0 and Windows Live Messenger. Just like on fixed line broadband, all X-Series services will be free, subject only to fair usage limits.

X-Series will allow 3 customers to use Instant Messaging with Windows Live Messenger, send and read e-mails with direct access to MSN Hotmail, Windows Live Hotmail, Google GMail, Yahoo! Mail or any webmail using the browser WWW3 powered by Novarra, surf any website with WWW3, search the Internet with Yahoo! oneSearch and trade on line with eBay, call for free by the Internet with Skype, use photosharing Flickr services with Yahoo! Go 2.0.

Vincenzo Novari, 3 Italia’s CEO, said: “Mobile broadband offered by X-Series is the natural next step for mobile services, extending the full power of the Internet to third generation handsets.Thanks to the partnership with leading Internet Companies and handsets makers, 3’s X-Series will allow everyone to access what they want, when they want it, however much of it they want, all free when they use it.”

3’s X-Series will be priced like fixed line broadband. For old and new pre-paid customers, X-Series will offer the usage of all the Internet mobile services, free when they use it, for 3 €/week or 9 €/month. For both old and new Zero5 or Zero7 post-paid Customers, X-Series is free and included in the monthly fee.

For X-Series offer, 3 Italia chose the best videophones available on the market, to offer its 3 customers a unique and complete usage experience. X-Series handsets portfolio includes Nokia N95, Nokia N73, Nokia E65, LG U970 and the TVphone LG U960. Further handsets will be available in the next few weeks.

Buying an X-Series handset, 3 customers will find pre-installed and ready-to-use applications: to start exploiting all the power of mobile broadband, it will be enough to access the X-Series menu. 3 customers will be able to download new applications in a fast and easy way, by simply entering the X-Series menu.

All current 3 customers will be able to upgrade their Videophone or TVphone into an X-Series handset by simply downloading and installing for free the compatible X-Series applications from Pianeta3 Mobile Portal.

3 Italia - It is the Mobile Media Company controlled by the Hutchison Whampoa Group shareholder of 95,4%. Its other shareholders are: NHS Investments S.A (San Paolo IMI, Gemina and 3G Mobile Investments (Franco Bernabé Group). 3 Italia won a UMTS license in Italy in 2000, commenced offering of its services in 2003 and is now the leader of the UMTS market in Italy - with over 7,2 million customers on March 2007 - thanks to a wide offer of multimedia, video communication and internet services, besides entertainment, music, information, cinema, sport and Mobile Digital TV (DVB-H).