Tag: 3
INQ's first QWERTY keypad packing phone, the INQ Chat 3G available now from 3
INQ's first QWERTY keypad packing phone, the INQ Chat 3G is available now from 3. The phone is being touted as the "ultimate social tool", a brave claim but one that INQ have gone a long way towards reaching. With…
Spotify-ready HTC Hero from 3 now on sale
After an initial £100 outlay on the handset, £35 a month over 24 months will bag you an unlimited Spotify Premium account for 2 years, 750 minutes to other mobiles, unlimited 3-to-3 calls, free Skype-to-Skype calls and unlimited email and internet browsing.
3 announce price cuts on the INQ Mini 3G and MiFi
3 are set to introduce some pretty significant price cuts on two of its most popular products in the run-up to Christmas.
Sony Ericsson Satio headed to 3 network
The phone costs £30 a month on an 18 month contract. For that, 3 are throwing in 300 minutes or texts 300 3-to-3 calls, free voicemail free Skype-to-Skype calls and Windows Live Messenger access.
3, Spotify and HTC Hero join forces
3 have today revealed the full details of what this deal will mean for their customers.
Orange announces network debut date for iPhone
There have already been over 200,000 pre-orders for the smartphone with the network operator, despite few details being revealed on Orange's intended pricing plan.
3 and Spotify agree deal – music streaming coming on HTC hero very soon
The deal means that Spotify will be bundled with 3 handsets starting with Google Android powered HTC Hero next month. A range of other phones will follow.
3 unveils INQ Mini 3G 'Twitter phone'
The new phone is a little smaller and arguably a touch more stylish than its predecessor, though its lineup of features is fairly similar. It has 3's headline free Skype-to-Skype calls and Windows Live Messenger in the UK as well as Facebook and Twitter access.
3 launch one month contract mobile broadband
3 have today announced a new one-month contract mobile broadband offering. The package offers 5GB of data allowance a month for £15.
They claim that it’s “Britain’s most flexible and affordable contract” and we’re not going to argue with them. I’ve had a little look around and it is bloomin’ good value compared to the other players in the market.
For the same price and contract terms, Vodafone will only give you 1GB and Orange and O2 will only allow 3GB.
If you’re using 3 mobile broadband on pay-as-you-go at the moment, you’ll simply need to pop a new, free sim card into your dongle. New customers will need to buy a new dongle – they sell the Huawei MF627, E156g and E1550 for £19.99.
The plan is called “Broadband 5GB 1 Month” – I hope they didn’t pay the marketing geniuses too much too come up with that one – and it’s available online here.
Mobile broadband is becoming ever more popular and this is certainly a good deal if you want to go down that path. Consider if you really need to though, many 3G phones will allow you to share your 3G connection with your laptop using apps like JoikuSpot. And the iPhone will now allow tethering – even if this might not be a cheap option at present.
BT & 3 wage war with mobile termination rates
BT and 3 are asking us to “terminate the rate”. The rate in question is the mobile termination rate (MTR) of 4.7p/min that customers must pay when calling a number on a different mobile telephone network, and the two companies have come together to launch a campaign to get Ofcom to drop charge to 1p/min or to ditch it entirely.
At a press conference this morning, 3 CEO Kevin Russell spoke of a “price floor” in the industry keeping consumers from the benefits of “truly unlimited call packages” both with BT and mobile operators across the board. They’re asking the public to visit the campaign website to understand this hidden charge they’ve been paying for all these years and sign up to make sure that reforms are made.
MTRs were initially put in place to help the mobile companies pay for the set up of their infrastructure. The cost would be incurred by BT, with the majority of calls coming from landlines all those years ago, and subsequently passed on to us. But the masts have long been built and the Big Four mobile operators well established. They don’t need the 4.7p/min any more but they certianly enjoy its benefits.
Last year, they collected a total of £750m in MTRs – money directly from our pockets and money, according to the Federation of Small Businesses, that could have been spent on low cost items in UK shops helping tradespeople weather the recession.
The European Commission asked Ofcom to look at the termination charges on 7th May this year and by supporting Terminate the Rate you can help apply the pressure.
BT currently chargers the mobile networks just 1/15th of that 4.7p/min in return and 3 paid £200m in MTRs to the Big Four over the last three years. On the one hand, it should be no surprise that it’s they who are championing this campaign, but, when the real cost of handling calls from another network is closer to less than a penny, it’s really in all users’ interests to stop the con.
So, head on over there – just as soon as the site has a little more to say than “OK” – and do the right thing, and in the mean time vent your spleen in the comments below. How does it make you feel?
