3 UK offers iPad2 to existing customers
3 UK is has confirmed that it will be selling iPad2 with Wi-Fi + 3G along with dedicated data plans.
New customers can buy the iPad2 at select 3Stores. It is offering black and white models with 24-month contracts at US$39.88 per month, with 15 GB monthly data allowance.
The 16 GB model is available for an up-front cost of US$365.35 with a 2-year contract, the 32 GB model for US$445.14 and a 64 GB model for US$604.69 with 2-year contract. Existing customers can get the 16 GB model for US$604.69, the 32 GB model for US$397.27 and the 64 GB model for US$556.82 with 2-year contracts.
Vodafone will sell Apple iPad 2 (UK)
Vodafone has confirmed that it will be selling the iPad 2 after putting product page online and inviting interested parties to register for update without giving out any details regarding the release date.
Unlike some of its competitors, Vodafone has completely stopped selling the original iPad although it sells the MicroSIM on contract. All the major mobile operators – with the notable exception of O2 – have now confirmed that they will sell the 3G version of the device; iPad 2 will be launched in the UK from Friday, 25th March and will carry a price tag of US$692.06 ( £429).
According to 3 UK, it would sell dedicated versions of the iPad 2 which may mean that it will introduce some interesting packages including an all-you-can-eat data one (like the US$40.33 (£25) The One) which would set 3 UK apart from the competition.
T-Mobile UK & 3 UK joint venture to complete by 2010
www.WirelessFederation.com/news: The joint venture of T-Mobile UK and 3 UK is on the verge of completion and might see the light of the day by end-2010. Over 90 percent outdoor population coverage to date has been achieved with their combined HSDPA 3G. It is set to reach more than 98 percent by end-2010.
50/50 JV called Mobile Broadband Network (MBNL) manages the network which has already consolidated more than 7,000 sites out of a total of over 12,500 T-Mobile UK and 3 UK mast sites due to be brought together by October 2010.
MBNL has agreed a new contract worth more than GBP 400 million with Nokia Siemens Networks with an aim to reinforce network capacity including the provision of 3G radio network infrastructure, mobile network planning, implementation, optimization and maintenance.
Equipment and services provisions are already underway.
3 UK seeks to cut price to boost market share
www.WirelessFederation.com/news: After the proposal by UK regulator Ofcom to cut the mobile termination rates, telecom operator 3 UK has planned to aggressively increase its customer base.
3 UK is UK’s smallest mobile operator with just 5.8 million customers and its expenses are more as it pays more in MTR charges as compared to rival operators than it receives for connecting calls to its network.
According to 3 UK CEO Ken Russell, 3 planned to cut the cost of its phone calls in the next two years and that it could now be more aggressive with its voice call pricing and look to significantly expand its market share.
He also felt that the changes meant he could focus on the company’s market share.
3UK launches Disney on Demand
On Demand Group and The Walt Disney Company UK have agreed a deal to provide subscribers with on-demand access to entire episodes of hit television shows via 3 UK’s first ever mobile TV subscription video-on-demand (SVOD) service.
Under the terms of this deal, Disney will offer hundreds of episodes to subscribers on the 3 network in the UK, including ABC Studios award winning live action series ‘Lost’, ‘Desperate Housewives’, ‘Grey’s Anatomy’ and more.
According to the CEO of On Demand Group, Tony Kelly, the company is pleased to help one of the world’s premier media companies to create its presence in a new medium. He is of the opinion that the Walt Disney Company UK’s arrival on 3 mobile demonstrates the tremendous potential for fully managed on-demand services that offer full control to subscribers however they chose to watch.
16 million UK people access web through mobile
www.WirelessFederation.com/news: O2, Vodafone, Orange, T-Mobile and 3 UK along with comScore have launched a GSMA Mobile Media Metrics (MMM) service in the UK. Anonymous mobile internet usage data will be taken from all five UK mobile operators by the service to provide insights into mobile media consumption.
It was shown by the data that about 16 million people in the UK accessed the internet from their handsets in December 2009 and viewed a combined total of 6.7 billion pages and spending an aggregate of 4.8 billion minutes online in the months.
70 percent of both total pages viewed and total time spent online on mobiles were accounted by the top 10 sites. Smartphone devices have resulted in this rapid growth of mobile internet usage in UK. 29 percent of the UK total mobile internet audience is of smartphone users.
