IntoMobile » Three

Brief update: Spotify on 3 handsets – tariffs now known

Ben Robinson — Tue, 20 Oct 2009 22:21:07 +0000

Following on from a post I wrote a few days ago, covering the impending tie-up between 3 (in the UK) and Spotify, we now know the tariffs that are involved. According to TechDigest, it will be:

£35/month, which gets you Spotify premium included, plus unlimited texts, unlimited internet usage, and 750 mins of calls. The Spotify subscription can also be accessed from your PC too. The HTC Hero I mentioned during my last post (it’s going to be the first device with the service on it) will cost £100 upfront also – always good to know.

Hmm, that’s not a bad deal – the Hero is a good device, and having Spotify on Mobile, for those that use it, I’m sure is a major boon.

[Via: TechDigest]

Hmm, that’s not a bad deal – the Hero is a good device, and having Spotify on Mobile, for those that use it, I’m sure is a major boon.

[Via: TechDigest]

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Spotify to put its service on 3 handsets

Ben Robinson — Fri, 16 Oct 2009 22:35:12 +0000

No, no, no, not a quantity of 3 handsets, but rather some of the range of upcoming handsets from Operator “3″ in the UK!

New Media Age has confirmed that Spotify has done the deal to enable it’s streaming music service to go on selected devices from 3 – which is it’s first mobile operator partnership.

The service will go on the HTC Hero, and that’s apparently due before Christmas – after that, there is (again, apparently) going to be a further set of devices that will come bundled with the service – of those, I’d bet on the INQ devices being at least one of them!

Interestingly, this means that Spotify and Nokias ‘Comes with Music’ will go head to head, in a battle of the music services – however, whilst the CWM business model is well known (the device subsidises the music subscription), the Spotify tariffs are not yet known.

In terms of direct-to-customer Apps, Spotify already has an App for the iPhone and Android devices, weighing in at £9.99/month – so it should be fascinating to see if the 3 deal betters this.

[Via: New Media Age]

has confirmed that Spotify has done the deal to enable it’s streaming music service to go on selected devices from 3 – which is it’s first mobile operator partnership.

In terms of direct-to-customer Apps, Spotify already has an App for the iPhone and Android devices, weighing in at £9.99/month – so it should be fascinating to see if the 3 deal betters this.

[Via: New Media Age]

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INQ Mini 3G – under £60 and in 3 Stores for October

Ben Robinson — Sat, 10 Oct 2009 20:59:00 +0000

The slimline INQ Mini 3G is going to be available on 3UK, free on the £15 Internet Texter plan, from … now! The tariff, created for the launch of the INQ1, offers free internet, free 3-to-3 calls, free voicemail and 75 minutes for £15 a month. It will also be available free on any Mix & Match tariff.

On Pay As You Go, the handset slots neatly into the value end of 3’s range at £59.99, offering a market leading price for such an anticipated phone. Top-ups start from £5 online and £10 from all other outlets, and with every top-up customers get a bundle of free texts, a generous allowance of Mobile Internet access, free 3-to-3 calls and free voicemail. The larger the top-up, the greater the rewards – and you can use them for 90 days whether or not the balance is in credit.

Both Pay As You Go on 3 and all contract tariffs come with free Skype-to-Skype calls and free Windows Live Messenger in the UK. And if you buy the INQ Mini 3G on the £15 Internet Texter plan, or on Pay As You Go, all your internet, including Facebook and Twitter, is covered by your bundle.

In case you’ve not come across the Mini 3G yet, it adds Twitter to the range of great internet products built into the heart of INQ’s phones, adding to Facebook, IM and Skype. Applications are easily accessible from INQ’s carousel menu system which can be pulled up on any screen using the handy switcher key.

The new Twitter application lets customers make the most of the ‘always on’ capability that the applications on the INQ1 are known for. Like Facebook, IM and Skype, after the first log in, Twitter stays ‘on’ in the background, letting customers send ‘tweets’ and ‘retweet’ using the phone’s application.

As well as improved software and additional functionality, the INQ Mini 3G is the first mobile to follow the new look and feel for future INQ handsets. It can also be customised with a range of seven coloured backs. INQ Mini 3G will be available with red backs in-box, other coloured backs will be available from 3 Stores.

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3UK picks up INQ MIni 3G for release

Ben Robinson — Mon, 14 Sep 2009 21:16:09 +0000

Omio.com is reporting that 3UK have picked the INQ Mini 3G for release – arriving early October.

As you might remember, the Mini 3G is one of a duo of devices that are following up the INQ1 – both are rocking some serious social networking connectivity, with more native apps than you can throw a bluetooth headset at!

The INQ Mini 3G is a slimline Social Mobile that offers Twitter, Facebook, IM, Skype and standard ‘IMAP’ email services like Hotmail. It brings the usability that INQ is known for to a new form factor. Like the INQ Chat, the INQ Mini 3G offers impressive capability at a fraction of the price of other application-rich devices.

Active address book is presence-enabled showing live status from all your contacts, letting you chose how to contact them

Built-in plug and play HSDPA modem to give your PC wireless broadband access

2.2” QVGA TFT landscape display

2.0 megapixel camera

100Mb user memory (expandable to 8GB)

Brew 4.0 and Java MIDP 2.0 for application development multitasking supported by dedicated Switcher hard key

Both phones have plug and play HSDPA modems enabling high-speed wireless broadbandon PCs and Macs.

So what do the tariffs look like? Well on contract you can get the device free on the £15/month Internet Texter plan, or even better, you can grab the device for a fairly amazing £59.99 on Prepay! Both contract and prepay deals get free Skype-to-Skype calls and free Windows Live Messenger access.

The Mini 3G also has changeable covers, which are obviously one of the most important features of a mobile phone – I know I won’t buy a device if I can’t swap the back panel at will … ahem …

[Via: Omio.com]

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Hutchison Whampoa invests in Spotify

Ben Robinson — Wed, 26 Aug 2009 19:24:08 +0000

The owner of the “Three” group, Hutchison Whampoa, has taken a stake in Spotify, the streaming music service that we’ve all been hearing so much about recently.

We don’t know the amount that has been invested, but it’s been enough to get HWL a seat on the board of Spotify. Specifically, it’s the Chairman of INQ (HWLs handset division) that has the seat – so it doesn’t take a maths genius to work out that Spotify is going to get (even more of) a Mobile steer – with particular consideration to INQ I’d suspect.

One further leap in inference, and you can see the next round of INQ handsets coming with a native Spotify app on board – which would be a cool thing. If they can get some kind of semi-persistent storage going on on the devices, that would be quite excellent indeed – then you’d have music on the go, even when you were out of coverage!

[Via: Mobile Choice]

The owner of the “Three” mobile operator group, Hutchison Whampoa, has taken a stake in Spotify, the streaming music service that we’ve all been hearing so much about recently.

[Via: Mobile Choice]

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UK: Mobile Wi-Fi – coming soon to 3…

Ben Robinson — Sun, 09 Aug 2009 20:06:29 +0000

3UK will launch a Mobile Wi-Fi service – also known as MiFi® – in time for Christmas this year, allowing you to use Wi-Fi wherever you can access the 3 network with a small wireless modem. The wireless modem sends out a Wi-Fi signal so that you can connect a range of Wi-Fi enabled devices to the internet without the need for wires or a USB connection. No fixed-line is needed; customers simply require 3’s 3G coverage to connect.

The wireless modem – smaller than your average mobile phone at just 86 x 45 x 10 mm – allows you to create your own personal mobile Wi-Fi connection. You can connect multiple devices to the internet at the same time so while you are checking e-mails on a netbook, you can also download a track from iTunes onto your iPod touch.

Set-up is simple. No software installation is required. Simply switch on the wireless modem and connect to the Mobile Internet using a Wi-Fi signal. A Wi-Fi enabled device will automatically pick up the signal and ask for an eight-digit network key which you will be asked to input just once for every new device you want to connect.

Like other Wi-Fi style services in markets across the world, Mobile Wi-Fi from 3 is an ideal solution for both consumer and business use. It offers the UK market the most flexible and convenient way to get online since the arrival of the Mobile Broadband dongle over 2 years ago.

Marc Allera, Sales & Marketing Director at 3 UK says, “There are millions of Wi-Fi devices out there, but they can only be used in fixed locations. Consumer demand for easy and affordable internet access on the go is growing fast and we’re responding to that by announcing the UK’s first wireless modem. Using Mobile Wi-Fi from 3, consumers can connect to the internet wherever they have a 3 signal, whether at home or on the move. They can download a track onto their iPod touch, or tweet their latest updates to their mates, or both. Either way it’s simple to set-up, without the need for wires.”

Mobile Wi-Fi, also known as MiFi®, will come to 3 in time for Christmas 2009. Pricing will be announced closer to launch.

[Via: 3UK]

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UK: 3 does ‘zero pound’ tariff, includes free Skype

Ben Robinson — Mon, 15 Jun 2009 21:32:03 +0000

According to Mobiletoday.co.uk, 3UK has launched the first ‘zero pound’ SIM-only tariff – which gives customers free Skype too (if they use a 3 phone). The deal comes in on June 17, and further builds out 3’s selection of tariffs which have Skype inclusive.

Apparently it’s a rolling tariff, so customers have only 1 month lock-in with the deal – a nice touch I think. But more interesting is the fact that Three seem to be on some kind of a mission to give customer massive amounts of free minutes (albeit with some limitations on who is being called). Ostensibly though, Skype on 3UK is now very similar, cost-wise, to Skype as you would use it on the InterWeb.

Whether this is going to take off is hard to tell – what do the IntoMobile readership think?

[Via: Mobiletoday.co.uk]

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Australia greenlights Vodafone-Hutchison merger in the country

Dusan Belic — Mon, 08 Jun 2009 08:40:03 +0000

You’ve probably heard that Hutchison’s and Vodafone’s Australian operations want to merge to create a new operator called VHA, which stands for Vodafone (NYSE: VOD) Hutchinson Australia. Well, the government has nothing against the deal, even though they raised some concerns earlier that it could kill the competition in the market.

The new founding is that the move is unlikely to hurt competition, according to the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC). The reasoning behind this flip-flop is the “increasing need for mobile network operators to have sufficient scale to be able to continue to make significant investments in their network capabilities.” Hold on a sec – am I reading this correctly? Hutchinson and Vodafone don’t have the money to invest in infrastructure?

Sure, Australian market is not that large, and they need to make some money along the way, but we’re talking about two friggin’ giants here.

Anyway, now that the government doesn’t have anything against the deal, guess it’s all about the timing and operational things to complete the deal. We’ll certainly cover the official “VHA lives now” news, have no doubt about it.

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Did 3UK miss out on the Palm Pre?

Ben Robinson — Tue, 19 May 2009 19:54:19 +0000

Well palmwebosblog.com has narrowed it down to a few Operators, and discounted Three within that mix! I’m not going to spoil their analysis, or the good work done by the Really Mobile Project in checking stuff out too, but instead comment where I believe the Pre is going – and I reckon Vodafone (NYSE: VOD) is where it’s going to be at – why? – just call it a gut feel….

Which Operator do you want to see the Pre on? Let us know!

[Via: palmwebosblog.com via: Really Mobile Project]

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3UK pushes free Skype-to-Skype calls

Ben Robinson — Wed, 13 May 2009 19:40:25 +0000

I reported recently on the news that 3 were to offer free Skype-to-Skype calls – well now they are promo-ing it heavily, with the help of Skype!

The email I received (see pic above) carries quite a bold claim – but then again, free Skype calls on Pre-pay handsets, without needing to top up ever, is potentially a game-changing offering!

Anyways, if you want to learn more about what 3 have on offer, then check out their site here.

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3UK gets BlackBerry Bold

Ben Robinson — Wed, 29 Apr 2009 21:03:23 +0000

The BlackBerry (NSDQ: RIMM) Bold is finally making its way over to H3G (or 3 as we know them) in the UK.

The Bold is a much-discussed device, with many good points (e.g. the keyboard is great), and a couple of bad ones (e.g. the battery life ain’t great). Once it is connected to 3UKs network, it will have access to services such as the 3MusicStore – taking advantage of the multimedia capabilities of the device. It will also support multiple email accounts, and have unlimited Windows Messenger access – so all good on the messaging front then!

It should debut for £30/onth with 500 mins, unlimited text/email/internet/windows live messenger – not a bad deal. Check out more at the Three Store website here.

[Via: 3G.co.uk]

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Gadget Show Live 2009: INQ Mobile

Ben Robinson — Fri, 17 Apr 2009 21:48:44 +0000

INQ, in case you didn’t know (where have you been?!) have developed a social-neworking handset. INQ are also a Hutchison Whampoa subsidiary, as is the Operator Group “3″, hence the logo you can see in the above pic.

The INQ stand was pretty busy all day, with a constant buzz of people wanting to update their facebook status… since that is one of the many social services you can use on their devices. Their fist device was the INQ1, a device that I have played with, and overall, really liked. For more about that, check here.

All in all, a neatly designed stand, for a neatly designed product. If you want to read more about the INQ1, and INQ’s philosophy, check their site here.

Ben

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3 Ireland joins Bebo’s Open Mobile initiative

Dusan Belic — Sat, 04 Apr 2009 12:36:06 +0000

Bebo keeps adding new partners to its Bebo Open Mobile “scheme.” Latest mobile operator that is joining the social network’s initiative is 3 Ireland.

Under the deal, the Irish operator will launch the Bebo Open Mobile Messaging and Media toolkit, allowing customers to connect directly to friends by text and watch free video content on Bebo from their mobile phone.

Specifically, 3 Ireland subscribers will be able to access the following Bebo services:

Bebo Open Mobile Internet – customized, 3-branded version of the Bebo mobile Internet platform with 3 navigation, support for direct promotions and a range of customized features.
Bebo Open Mobile Messaging – allows 3 customers to receive Bebo SMS alerts and updates on their mobile phones through the 51231 short code, as well as upload photos to Bebo through the 53231 short code. Additionally, users can update their Bebo profiles, add photos to their gallery, give virtual gifts and interact with friends through the short code.
Bebo Open Mobile Video – 3 customers will be able to watch various clips on their mobile and share content with their Bebo buddies.

Commenting on the announcement, 3’s Sales Director, Elaine Carey, said: “At launch, 3 will be the only mobile operator in Ireland that offers this full Bebo content social networking experience. Innovation and value is what we at 3 strive for and the speed at which people are subscribing to Bebo applications shows it’s also exactly what our customers demand.”

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Australian regulator voices concerns over Vodafone/Hutchison 3 merger in the country

Dusan Belic — Thu, 02 Apr 2009 16:52:47 +0000

Remember that Vodafone and Hutchison announcement that they will merge their Australian operations to form a new company? Well, it seems Australia’s anti-trust regulator doesn’t like the idea. As a matter of fact, they said that the move could hurt competition in the local mobile market.

In the so called “Statement of Issues” document, the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) said that “the proposed merger raises competition concerns in the short to medium term within the mobile telephony and MBB [mobile broadband] segments of the national market.” Moreover, the regulator said that the prospect of a new entrant to the market was “practically non-existent.” As a result, they say that end users could see an increased pricing, as the two carriers were “each other’s closest competitors” in the metropolitan and prepaid markets.

Another concern was related to competition issues, as Voda and 3 have insights into the network investment plans of rivals Telstra and Optus due to the various network-sharing joint-ventures between the operators. Personally, I don’t buy this argument as I’m sure all operators know their competitors well.

Vodafone (NYSE: VOD) and Hutchison now have a chance to resolve areas of concern, and if everything goes as planned — and we’ll know the regulator’s decision on May 6th — a new operator called VHA (Vodafone Hutchison Australia) will emerge with with 6 million customers and combined total revenues of approximately AU$4 billion ($2.7 billion).

[Via: GSMA newsletter]

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3 Sweden/Denmark Select Vidiator Xenon Hosted Delivery Platform (XHP) to Power its Planet3 Portal

Ben Robinson — Mon, 09 Mar 2009 20:22:12 +0000

3 Sweden/Denmark has selected Vidiator Xenon Hosted Delivery Platform (XHP) to power its Planet 3 Portal and enable more efficient access to applications and downloads for subscribers, the two companies announced today.

Xenon Mobile Streaming Platform has become popular indeed, with 20 operators and content providers in 20+ countries including: ‘3’, PCCW, Vodafone (NYSE: VOD), NTDoCoMo, Sprint (NYSE: S), KTH, LG Telecom, BSkyB, Onsetel, CNN and AT&T (NYSE: T) to name a few.

XHP manages all facets of encoding, asset management, dynamic bandwidth adaptation, billing integration, device adaptation and mobile streaming and download deliveries “out of the box”. In just a few clicks content managers can upload content, while XHP automatically and seamlessly adapts delivery to any number of multiple devices. XHP supports streaming to the majority of handsets available today and the technology can detect which encoding is optimal to what device automatically.

“Opening up walled gardens and letting in content owners directly address targeted subscribers is quickly becoming a cost-effective and efficient model. As more and more content and services come online, operators increasingly are turning to hosted, 3^rd-party platforms like Vidiator to deliver their branded services because they can do this with huge time-to-market gains,” said Connie Wong, Vidiator CEO.

“Moreover, we see mobile streaming and content at a positive tipping point – mobile network capacity and speed are improving the quality of delivery. Operators know that they can depend upon Vidiator Xenon streaming and encoding technologies, which have gone through nearly ten years of aggressive R&D, rigorous testing and proven itself via highly successful and large-scale operator deployments and industry awards,” continued Wong.

I’ve had the chance to work with Vidiator, and their encoding solutions are top-notch quality-wise – so it’s good to see they are gaining traction with even more Operators. Good work Vidiator!

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Hutchison plans spin-off for HK Business Unit

Ben Robinson — Sun, 08 Mar 2009 20:05:01 +0000

Hutchison Telecom has reported a 16% growth in revenues, bringing them in a HK$24bn, but here’s the kicker – net income has dropped from HK$66.8bn to a shade under HK$1.9bn – crumbs….

…. but that’s maybe not the most interesting news – Hutchison has also confirmed that it will be spinning off the Hong Kong holding company, which consists of the landline and Mobile operations in Hong Kong and Macau. Hutchison has stated the reason for doing this is that it will allow the value of these two profit-making operations to be better recognised by the public market valuations.

Hmm, okay, but at a time with so much uncertainty on so many different scales, isn’t that a risky strategy? Time, as usual, will tell…..

[Via: Cellular News]

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Vodafone and Hutchinson’s Three to merge their Australian networks

Dusan Belic — Tue, 10 Feb 2009 12:54:36 +0000

Vodafone (NYSE: VOD) and its competitor in many markets, Hutchison’s Three, are joining forces in Australia. Despite the fact that Vodafone is stronger of the two carriers, the new company will be formed as a 50/50 joint venture and will be called VHA. However, to compensate for the value difference, Vodafone will receive a deferred payment of AU$500 million from VHA, as well as an additional brand licensing fee of 1% of service revenues from VHA.

The transaction is expected to close by mid-2009 once all the interested parties approve the deal. The parties include Hutchison shareholders, Australia’s Foreign Investment Review Board and Competition and Consumer Commission.

[Via: MobileBurn]

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UK Operators compared against each other

Ben Robinson — Tue, 27 Jan 2009 19:45:29 +0000

In a post that made interesting reading, TechDigest has today compared the various UK Operators against each other. For those that are not familiar, there are 5 major OpCos in the UK:

O2 (NYSE: TEF)
Vodafone (NYSE: VOD)
T-Mobile (NYSE: DT)
Orange
3

I make no secret of the fact that I am an O2 subscriber, and largely I find them to be very good indeed. However, TechDigest have gone for quite a detailed approach, comparing coverage, pricing, handsets, and value.

I won’t spoil the outcome for you and tell you here who they rated 1^st – that would spoil the surprise, and also the reading of the great (long!) article that was written. If you do read the article, it would be interesting to know whether you think there are any other criteria the Operators could/should be assessed on – the industry measures are usually ARPUs, and net adds/losses, but is there something you think (however curveball it may be) that would be a good measure to compare them all?

You can find the TechDigest article here.

[Via: TechDigest]

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3UK does some new Mobile video content

Ben Robinson — Sat, 24 Jan 2009 21:21:25 +0000

Tech Digest is reporting that 3UK has announced it will be offering lotsa new “On-Demand” mobile TV (I would assume that to mean 3G streaming) – including stuff like, South Park, The HIlls, and Pimp My Ride!

It’s going to cost between £1.29-£1.99 apparently for a week’s access to an episode, which is an addition to the existing service (which incidentally has coverage of things like Sky Sports).

Hmm, well I’d pay to be able to access South Park – it’s just awesomely funny, along with that other animated classic Family Guy. £1.29? Yep, I’d swallow that – just take me to the content!

Seriously though, it’s good to see Operators (especially ones like 3UK) continuing to build out their content catalogue – people need new stuff to consume, and popular shows like these should be in high demand, on demand!

[Story via: Tech Digest / Image via: Three]

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3UK goes after lower-tariff customers

Ben Robinson — Sun, 18 Jan 2009 09:32:04 +0000

3UK has come in with a £9/month tariff for users, trying to get them on to contracts, and out of prepay (and probably attract some new users in to the bargain!).

The deal gives the customer a Sony Ericsson (NYSE: SNE) G502, 100 cross network minutes or 100 texts (or any mix of the two), 300 FREE 3-to-3 calls, and FREE voicemail access.

I should be very clear at this juncture and say that the £9/month is a promotional offer, which runs out on 31st January – i.e. you’d need to be signed up by then.

Overall, I’d say that’s a pretty good deal – whilst the handset isn’t the highest spec, the line rental is coming down in to the “utility” sort of rate, much like broadband in the UK has done of late – that’s now available on fixed telephone line for £5-£10/month, and on mobile (USB dongle) for £10-20/month.

Particularly given the current economic climate, I’d imagine this deal would go down quite well…. if you fancy a bit of this, check out 3UK’s page here.

[Via: Mobile Today]

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