3 launches flat rate mobile broadband in the UK

December 4, 2006

3UK announces pricing details for the much anticipated X-Series from 3. The X-Series from 3 will extend several of the core applications and uses of the broadband internet to the mobile handset. Packages will be available at two attractive price points on top of the basic voice and text subscription - X-Series Silver at £5 per month and X-Series Gold at £10 per month.

X-Series Silver

The X-Series Silver package gives customers unlimited Skype calls with Skype PC users anywhere in the world, and to any other Skype 3 mobile customer. X-Series Silver offers customers unlimited instant messages, to or from Windows Live Messenger or Yahoo! Messenger, to another X-Series handset, or a PC. Customers will also be able to search and browse the Internet from their mobile.

X-Series Gold

The X-Series Gold package will give unlimited access to your home TV with Slingbox and your home PC with Orb. For just £10 a month customers will be able to watch their home TV through Slingbox, or access their PC files on the move. The X-Series Gold package will also include the full range of internet communications and information services available with X-Series Silver.

When purchased with a new connection to 3, customers choosing either X-Series Silver or Gold will be signing up for six months and those customers who buy a Slingbox with X-Series Gold, will be asked to sign up for 12 months.

Slingbox

Customers who choose X-Series Gold will be able to buy a Slingbox from 3 for the reduced price of £99. Any customers who already own a Slingbox can join 3 and opt for the X-Series Gold service.

Bob Fuller, CEO of 3UK, said, "The X-Series from 3 is now on sale in our 3 Stores across the UK. Priced like fixed line broadband, customers will be charged flat access fees for X-Series mobile broadband services. This means it is free at the time of use, for a flat fee. The X-Series from 3 is about giving the people the internet as they want it, on their mobile and removing the barriers to usage that per-megabyte data charges have imposed on people. We're proud and excited to be the first 3 Group market to offer X-Series and the first to bring the best of the internet to customers on the move."

X-Series handsets

The X-Series from 3 will be available with two handsets, the Nokia N73 and the Sony Ericsson W950i following in January. Customers will choose their standard price plan and then plug in either X-Series Silver or X-Series Gold on top of their standard text and voice packages. In 2007, 3 will continue to expand the range of X-Series handsets and services.

The X-Series from 3 will also come bundled with 512MB memory for the Nokia N73 and 4GB memory for the Sony Ericsson W950i.

X-Series fair use

The X-Series from 3 has the following fair use levels as a guide:

-- 5,000 Skype to Skype minutes per month.

-- Windows Live Messenger: 10,000 messages per month

-- 1GB per month for browsing

-- Orb and Slingbox: 80 hours a month with X-Series Gold