Flat Rate Broadband Plan For 3G

Written by Adam Gosling

Friday, 17 November 2006

Promising the possibility of bringing fixed-line style broadband plans to the mobile platform, 3 has said it will bring all-you-can-eat Skype, messaging, TV and browse, even access your home PC from your phone on a fixed rate plan with no "bill shock". Hutchison Whampoa's 3 networks have collaborated with a key group of industry players to launch a new integrated service that takes mobile Internet to a new level. The X-Series from 3 will allow customers to make free mobile Skype calls, take their TV on the run access Instant Messaging services from Yahoo! Microsoft's Live and Google, all on a flat rate data plan. To be tagged The X-Series from 3, the move is a first shift to true mobile broadband services in that it will be priced at a flat rte and have 'fair use' provisions controlling usage volumes. This will allow many of the dreams of mobile computing to be realised by the broader user community. By teaming up with a number of leading web-based companies to deliver services over the 3G platform, 3 brings a ready-to-use set of core applications along with the new pricing model. Customers will be able to make unlimited calls from their mobile using Skype, watch their home television via their mobile using Sling, access their home PC remotely using Orb and have access to messaging services from Yahoo!, Windows Live Messenger and Google. Other key partnerships are the handset makers with 3 bringing  on Nokia and Sony Ericsson to provide devices. Many of the partners have progressively announced agreements with the network carrier over the past year, but this is the first hint of what 3 has been working on. The official global launch will kick off in the United Kingdom from December 1, 2006 with other 3 markets to follow in early 2007. Canning Fok, Group Managing Director of Hutchison Whampoa, said: “This is the Internet as it was meant to be and what people have been waiting for. Mobile broadband is the natural next step for mobile services, extending the full power of theInternet to mobile handsets. "By partnering with the leaders of the Internet and the leading handset makers, the X-Series from 3 will give everyone access to more of what they want, when they want it, and however much of it they want, all free when they use it.” Frank Sixt, Group Finance Director of Hutchison Whampoa, said: “We believe that giving our customers the benefit of the favourable economics of the broadband world will lead more customers to join our network. That is the proposition the 3 Group will be putting forward in all of its markets under the X-Series. This is why we created 3, and what our network was designed to deliver. The X-Series heralds important changes in the business model for mobile media andInternet. Moving away from unit charges will set mobile users free to enjoy broadband services without fear of ‘bill-shock’.” The broadband Internet access fees will be charged on top of regular phone subscription charges. There will be a tiered structure with users wanting to access features from Sling (TV) and Orb (PC access) paying a high fee. But the switch to charging data at a flat rate is a significant departure from the way 3 and most other mobile operators have approached it in the past when cost per MB rates have not only been in place, but have generally been hefty. It will be interesting to see what price point 3 targets this service platform at - no details will be announced until at least the 1st December UK launch. Importantly though, it shifts the paradigm and shows that mobile operators are acknowledging the greatest revenue potential to data services is akin to a broad uptake via the broadband ISP model rather then the traditional telecommunications per unit charging. In this respect 3 is correct to say "The X-Series will lay the foundations for the mobile broadband charging models of the future". "The broadband Internet is based on a completely different economic model than that of most mobile operators today. As Internet and media technologies have evolved, customers are able to do more at less cost. Customers in the future will be attracted by greater and greater choice, and higher and higher usage levels, for fair, attractive and transparent access fees," says the company. www.three.com.au http://xseries.three.com Related news items Ericsson To Build Vodafone HSPA -06/03/2008 Fujitsu LifeBook - 12.1 inch; 11 hours; 1.53kg -21/08/2007 Vodafone HSDPA Stretches To Brisbane -05/07/2007 Value-Conscious AND Fujitsu LifeBook? -17/04/2007 Palm To Update Treo 750 OS -27/03/2007 Newer news items Tribunal Backs ACCC in Optus Dispute -23/11/2006 Vodafone Unleashes 3.5G USB Modem -21/11/2006 1 Million Wireless Broadband Users Up For Grabs -20/11/2006 BigAir Plans 1Gbps Wireless Speeds -19/11/2006 3 Starts Mobile Broadband Price War: UPDATED -19/11/2006 Older news items Vodafone Australia Exceeds Half Year Targets -14/11/2006 Soul's B Digital Offers Closes at 97.4% -13/11/2006 Soul Reaches 90% Of B Digital -08/11/2006 Optus Mobile A Biright Spot In Quarter's Results -08/11/2006 Vodafone Australia Signs For Nokia Services -02/11/2006 Tag This Now: