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March launch for Hutchison 3G UK
January 30, 2003
Hutchison 3G UK has said it will launch third generation mobile
phone services by the end of March. The operator recently opened
its flagship store in London, Oxford Street, showcasing its new
phones.
"The price will be very competitive with second generation networks.
It's mass market pricing. You don't go through all this to build
something that is not mass market," said a company spokesman. The
service would be switched on by end of March at the latest he said.
Hutchison has announced two price bundles with the cheapest being
at £59.99 and the more expensive at £99.99 a month. The tariffs
includes free call minutes downloads, e-mails, messages and video
calls, but the details of each bundle is not clear. It is expected
that cheaper tariffs will be announced in the near future.
Three mobile handsets will be on sale at the launch, the NEC E606,
Motorola A830 and NEC 808. The latter will priced at £449 and the
other two at £399.
Hutchison 3G services include videoconferencing, download games
and music and highlights of Premiership goals when they are scored.
It will also provide content from magazines such as FHM and Smash
Hits, and news from Reuters.
Hutchison 3G will subsidise handsets to help it reach the target
of 1 million customers by the end of the year. Spokesman Matt Peacock
said the first 20,000 UK customers will be offered "substantial
discounts" on their phone. "After that, one of the options available
will include a few pounds off a handset,'" Peacock said. "We're
not going down the route of big subsidies."
Spokesman Ed Brewster said Hutchison's service will initially be
available to half the UK population, roughly 8 % of the country.
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3G Motorola A920
