Qualcomm and Teleepoch Enter Into a 3G CDMA Subscriber Unit License Agreement, October 6, 2007

MTN chooses Cambridge Broadband Networks for multi-service wireless network in Rwanda, October 6, 2007

Brazilian government to publish 3G bidding rules soon, October 6, 2007

KTF 3G service suffers from technical problems, October 6, 2007

Argentina’s Personal lunches 3G service in Rosario, October 6, 2007

Russia has it's first 3G network, October 6, 2007

AT&T could drop Alcatel-Lucent as 3G mobile network supplier, October 6, 2007

Enea Extends License Agreement with ZTE for 3G Handsets, October 2, 2007

LG to unveil premium handsets in Brazil, October 2, 2007

KTF 3G subscribers doubled in less than 3 months, October 2, 2007

3G policy in India will be non-uniform, October 2, 2007

- previous news

3 Bites Bullet and Scraps Roaming Charges

January 17, 2007 - source: BWCS

While the EU mulls measures to force mobile companies to reduce roaming fees, Hutchison-backed mobile operator 3 has shocked many with a new plan to scrap roaming charges for its UK customers in seven countries. The favoured destinations are Italy, Australia, Hong Kong, Sweden, Denmark, Austria and the Republic of Ireland - all markets where Hutchison has operations.

The new move will mean that, quite simply, 3's customers will not be charged any extra for making or receiving calls or texts whilst in any of these countries. According to reports on the BBC News website, 3 has said there will no fees or one-off charges for this service. 3 also confirmed that calls from any of the seven countries back to the UK would come under the user's usual monthly call allowance, and be exactly the same as if they were making a domestic call. Clearly 3's users will continue to pay roaming charges when phoning from other countries.

Should a user exceed the amount allowed on their monthly call allowance when phoning from one of the seven countries, they will then be charged a flat fee of £0.20 a minute.

3 added that its UK customers would also be able to make video calls and access the internet at their usual domestic rate under the new service, which is called 3 Like Home.

Last July, the European Commission said it intends to enforce a limit on roaming fees, and is continuing to look at the matter. The EU believes that it was forced to step in after a code of voluntary cuts proved to be ineffective. Yet, mobile operators are up in arms about the planned intervention and the GSM Association points out that average roaming costs in Europe have already fallen by 22% since last year. Naturally, the Association believes that further price cuts will follow as competition continues to bite, thus it argues there is no need for "heavy-handed" interference from Brussels. Further intense lobbying is expected

3 has more than 3.75 million customers in the UK and more than 13.5 million worldwide.