Europe
: 3 UK announced pricing details for the much anticipated X-Series
from 3. The X-Series from 3 will extend several of the core applications
and uses of the broadband internet to the mobile handset. Packages
will be available at two attractive price points on top of the basic
voice and text subscription - X-Series Silver at £5 per month
and X-Series Gold at £10 per month.
X-Series
Silver
The X-Series Silver package gives customers unlimited Skype calls
with Skype PC users anywhere in the world, and to any other Skype
3 mobile customer. X-Series Silver offers customers unlimited instant
messages, to or from Windows Live Messenger or Yahoo! Messenger, to
another X-Series handset, or a PC. Customers will also be able to
search and browse the Internet from their mobile.
X-Series Gold
The X-Series Gold package will give unlimited access to your home
TV with Slingbox and your home PC with Orb. For just £10 a month
customers will be able to watch their home TV through Slingbox, or
access their PC files on the move. The X-Series Gold package will
also include the full range of internet communications and information
services available with X-Series Silver.
When purchased with a new connection to 3, customers choosing either
X-Series Silver or Gold will be signing up for six months and those
customers who buy a Slingbox with X-Series Gold, will be asked to
sign up for 12 months.
Slingbox
Customers who choose X-Series Gold will be able to buy a Slingbox
from 3 for the reduced price of £99. Any customers who already
own a Slingbox can join 3 and opt for the X-Series Gold service.
Bob Fuller, CEO of 3UK, said:
“The X-Series from 3 is now on sale in our 3 Stores across the
UK. Priced like fixed line broadband, customers will be charged flat
access fees for X-Series mobile broadband services. This means it
is free at the time of use, for a flat fee. The X-Series from 3 is
about giving the people the internet as they want it, on their mobile
and removing the barriers to usage that per-megabyte data charges
have imposed on people. We’re proud and excited to be the first
3 Group market to offer X-Series and the first to bring the best of
the internet to customers on the move.”
X-Series handsets
The X-Series from 3 will be available with two handsets, the Nokia
N73 and the Sony Ericsson W950i following in January. Customers will
choose their standard price plan and then plug in either X-Series
Silver or X-Series Gold on top of their standard text and voice packages.
In 2007, 3 will continue to expand the range of X-Series handsets
and services.
The X-Series from 3 will also come bundled with 512MB memory for the
Nokia N73 and 4GB memory for the Sony Ericsson W950i.
X-Series fair use
The X-Series from 3 has the following fair use levels as a guide:
- 5,000 Skype to Skype minutes per month.
- Windows Live Messenger: 10,000 messages per month
- 1GB per month for browsing
- Orb and Slingbox: 80 hours a month with X-Series Gold
Where unfair use is apparent, 3 will take the appropriate measures
on a case-by-case basis.
Exclusive to 3 Stores
From the start of December the X-Series from 3 will be exclusively
available in 3 Stores and on www.three.co.uk. 3 recently announced
it was acquiring 73 Link stores and 22 O2 stores, as part of a strategy
to build a nationwide retail presence and create a retail footprint
of over 150 stand-alone 3 Stores, on top off its 133 Superdrug and
Selfridges concessions.
Marketing the X-Series
The launch of the X-Series from 3 will be supported by an online and
print campaign to raise its profile in the UK.
For more information on the X-Series from 3 please visit http://xseries.three.com
Where can customers access the X-Series from 3
All X-Series services will work when there’s 3G coverage on
3’s networks in the UK or overseas. And, except for Orb and
Sling, they will work in our UK voice and picture coverage area. From
January 2007 there will be no international roaming voice call charges
when using Skype on 3’s networks overseas.
