3 teams up with internet giants for new service
Mobile network 3 is to launch a new mobile internet package, backed by a string of high-profile Web companies.
Called X-Series, the package will allow customers to make unlimited calls from their mobile using Web telephony provider Skype and watch their home television on their mobile phone in a tie-up with Sling Media. They will also have access to their home PC using Orb and be able to use internet and messaging services from Yahoo!, Microsoft and Google.
No prices have yet been announced, but 3 says the X-Series’ price structure will be similar to that of fixed-line broadband packages, with users charged a flat fee on top of their basic subscription rather than paying per minute or according to how much data they use.
The service will be available in the UK from December 1, and will roll out to other markets around the world early next year.
"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 the internet to mobile handsets," says Canning Fok, group managing director of Hutchison Whampoa, which owns 3.
Nokia and Sony Ericsson are providing the first two handsets to support the mobile internet services.