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3 Celebrates Three Years of 3G in the UK |
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6th
March , 2006 |
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3 launched the UK’s first 3G network on 3rd March 2003, setting out to challenge the status quo in the UK mobile market by offering customers a new generation of communication, entertainment and information services. By August 2005, 3 had over 3.2 million customers in the UK, more customers on 3G than all the other networks put together. 3 reached its first million customers faster than any other operator in the history of UK telecoms. Bob Fuller, 3 UK CEO, said: “We have achieved an incredible amount in just three years. 3 built the UK’s first third generation mobile network from scratch and brought 3G services to the UK market - mobile music, mobile video calling and mobile TV. We have established a brand new market and we will continue to lead it.” “The last three years have given us a unique insight to the development of this new technology and how people use it. The 3G market continues to evolve at a tremendous speed in the hands of our customers, and yet the exciting story of 3G has only just begun.” Media & entertainment – TV Since it launched in 2003, 3 has led the market for Mobile TV. 3 was the first to stream TV to customers, the first to stream live sporting events with the Grand National and the first to offer catch-up TV and highlights such as Big Brother, the X Factor and Lost on its service. Mobile TV is an incredible opportunity. People have shown a huge appetite for all kinds of TV services, from live streaming to downloaded clips and highlights. 3 now has up to 24 mobile TV channels available to customers, including Extreme Sports Network, CNN and Bravo. Media & entertainment – Music Music over mobile phones has been a phenomenal success story. 3 was the first to offer customers streaming and downloading of full length music videos and over fifteen million were downloaded in the first twelve months of the service. 3 was the first company to offer live gigs over mobile to customers. 3 was also the first to launch a dual download service delivering music tracks bought through a mobile handset to the customer’s home PC at the same time. 3 has announced agreements with EMI, MTV and Warner Music to offer over 500,000 full-length audio and video tracks to its customers at any time. Other new Mobile
Services The Pupillo camera lets people use their 3G phone to dial into a remote camera so, for example, they can keep an eye on their house whilst they are out. This was yet another first for 3 in the UK. 3G handsets 3 has the leading range of 3G handsets available in the UK. They are light, versatile, supporting the full range of communication and entertainment services. 3 currently has over twenty models of 3G handset on sale, the widest range of any operator in the UK. 3 has agreements in place with LG, Motorola, NEC, Nokia, Sony Ericsson and ZTE. 3G network 3 built the UK’s first 3G mobile network. This was the fastest mobile network rollout in UK telecoms history and now has over 6,500 sites installed. 3 now has 88% population coverage for 3G services much greater than the next nearest competitor - as well as over 99% national coverage for voice and text services through a national roaming agreement. In December 2005 3 announced it had entered into an exclusive managed services partnership with Ericsson. Under the agreement Ericsson is responsible for the management of the 3 network and its IT infrastructure in the UK. This was one of the largest managed services partnership contracts ever signed in the industry. It makes 3 the most efficiently managed mobile network in the UK and allows the company to focus on what it does best – delivering great new 3G services. Great value for customers 3 has set the benchmark for the price of 3G services in the UK, offering innovative, easy to understand, great value price plans that have attracted 3.2million customers in three years. In 2004, 3 redefined pay-as-you-go pricing, when it broke the mould by offering prepay customers the same great value as contract customers. 3 is focused on attracting and retaining high quality customers who use their mobiles for all its communication, entertainment and information services. In January 3 launched WePay, a completely new PAYG service, which rewards customers with cash credit for receiving calls and texts. 3 has also set the standard on how mobile media services are packaged and priced. Bob Fuller went on to say: “It has been an amazing journey so far for 3 in the UK. We’ve built the network, established a significant customer base, generated all these new services and created a whole ecosystem around 3G that will grow and grow. 3G is the future of telecoms. We clearly understand the market and are able to continuously shape and define that market. We are determined to continue leading its development.” |
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Europe
UK : 3, the mobile media company, and the UK’s only pure 3G
player, today celebrates its third birthday in the UK.