3 Group sets limits on 'unlimited' mobile plan
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(InfoWorld) - 3 Group, the mobile telecommunications operator owned by Hutchison Whampoa, has set limits on usage of its new "unlimited" mobile data plan in the U.K. On Friday, 3 UK revealed that subscribers to its X-Series service can pay an additional Â£5 ($9.90) per month on top of their regular voice fees for "unlimited" access to Skype VOIP (voice over IP), instant messaging and Internet browsing. For Â£10 per month, subscribers get all that plus the ability to watch "unlimited" TV via a Slingbox plugged into their home broadband Internet connection. 3 sells the Slingbox for Â£99. Subscribers to this service can also use Orb software to remotely access content on their PC. All those unlimited features come with limits, however. Subscribers are allowed 5,000 Skype minutes, 10,000 Windows Live Messenger messages, 80 hours using Orb and Slingbox TV, and 1GB of Internet browsing per month. In addition, the included Skype service is restricted to calls to and from PCs or other Skype users on the 3 network, and customers must use Windows Live Messenger or Yahoo Messenger for instant messaging. 3 said that where unfair use is apparent, it will take "appropriate measures" based on individual cases. Mobile operators have been criticizedÂ for pricing their data services based on how many megabytes or gigabytes that users download. But operators like 3, that are beginning toÂ offer flat-rate plans, are still under fire for placing limits on their unlimited plans. Verizon Wireless in the U.S., for example, has been criticized for its $79.99 monthly "unlimited" data plan. On its Web site, Verizon notes that subscribers to the unlimited plans are authorized to browse the Internet and access e-mail and intranets but they are not allowed to continuously stream audio or video, watch TV through devices like the Slingbox, or receive automatic data feeds. Some subscribers to the Verizon Wireless service complain that Verizon has cut off their subscriptions for over-use. Editors at a consumer complaints and reviews Web site detailed their experience this year after Verizon cancelled their account. While placing limits on such data services may be disappointing to end users, the operators have a business reason for doing so. The operators are aware of the risk that a low-priced, unlimited offering could attract so many customers that their networks won't be able to support them all, said Daren Siddall, an analyst with Gartner, speaking after the introduction of X-Series. 3 introduced X-Series earlier this month and plans to open up the offering in the rest of its markets outside of the UK next year. The Nokia N73 is the only handset currently available supporting the offering but the Sony Ericsson W950i will follow in January.
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com September 9, 2004, 4:46 PM PT. Federal telephone regulators on Thursday set aside more spectrum for third-generation cell phone calls and other advanced wireless services, in a move
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Vodafone has set a goal of 10 million third-generation (3G) mobile phone customers by March 2006 as the titan battles to recoup about 24
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(InfoWorld) - While mobile operators claim to be cutting the cost of roaming, their efforts are just a smoke screen and have no appreciable effect on charges overall, a European consumer rights group has said. The lower tariffs are typically available for a limited duration, sometimes requiring payment of an additional subscription fee, and may only be cheaper for long calls made using certain networks, BEUC, the European Consumers' Organisation, said on Tuesday. The fees should be capped at â¬0.33 ($0.43) per minute for customers roaming outside their home country, consumer groups said . Their demand is considerably lower than the cap of â¬0.49 per minuteÂ proposed by the European CommissionÂ in draft legislation that could be voted by June. Viviane Reding, Commissioner for Information Society and Media,Â announced plans last FebruaryÂ to crack down on mobile phone roaming charges, which she said were unreasonably high. On July 12, the Commission proposed cutting by 70 percent the cost of making and receiving calls while travelling in another European Union member state, saving European consumers â¬5 billion a year, according to the Commission's figures. Under the Commission's proposal, operators will be allowed to charge no more than â¬0.16 per minute for calls received while travelling abroad, â¬0.33 per minute for calls made within the country being visited, or â¬0.49 per minute for calls made back home or to a third country while abroad. However, that's still too much for the consumer groups, which called for charges of â¬0.16, â¬0.25 and 0.33 per minute, respectively. The French Consumers' Union (UFC - Que Choisir) called for national telecommunications regulators to collect more information about the volume of incoming, outgoing and local roaming calls, and the wholesale prices charged by operators for each type of call. Without such statistics, it's difficult to measure the effects of tariffs and policies, the group said. Regulators and consumers are dependent on figures provided by the GSM Association, which represents 700 mobile phone operators, the French group said. Those figures showed that the cost of making roaming calls in Europe fell by 25 percent in 2006, from â¬0.83 per minute to â¬0.62, the GSM Association said on Feb. 8. The price decline shows that regulation, especially of the retail market, is unnecessary, the Association said. In the absence of independent measurements of the market, BEUC and UFC - Que Choisir commissioned their own economic analysis in order to determine what they consider fair price caps. Limiting charges to â¬0.33 per minute will stimulate demand, and so have no adverse effect on operators' revenue or profit, they said. Based on mobile phone bills supplied by Members of the European Parliament, they calculated that lower charges could save MEPs an average over â¬1,000 each per year. European telecommunications ministers are expected to discuss the Commission's proposed regulations at informal meetings alongside the Cebit trade show in Hanover, Germany, next month, while the European Parliament will vote on the proposals in April. Germany, which holds the rotating presidency of the European Union, has announced its intention to push the legislation on roaming prices through by the end of June, when its term of office ends. Â
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A divided Federal Communications Commission passed rules Wednesday restricting local phone competition. The move is expected to raise prices for many consumers across the country and for small businesses in larger cities.
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For customers who either love to  plan ahead or hate monthly bills, a small Massachusetts  telecommunications firm has launched a $999 offer of unlimited  Internet-based telephone service for life.
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Ofcom promises to think about it The GSM Association, trade body of the mobile phone industry, is calling for regulators around the world to allow the use of 3G technology in the 900MHz band.â¦
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Vodafone Group, the world&#39;s largest mobile phone operator, fired the first salvo in the pre-Christmas marketing war today when it announced the full launch of third-generation wireless services.
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VODAFONE, the world&#39;s largest mobile phone network, launched its third-generation services in 13 countries today, including the UK.
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By Alastair Jamieson Consumer Affairs Correspondent  PRICE cuts could be on the way for mobile phone customers after the telecoms watchdog ordered more restrictions on call charges and promised to investigate the cost of text messaging.
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BusinessWeek Online - Ricky Davis is the kind of customer wireless carriers hate. On a recent visit to New York from Sydney, the film production assistant dropped into a wireless store and, bypassing phones with flashy names like BlackJack, RAZR, and Pearl, asked for a model for her husband that could be used with any number of service plans -- just like her own $400 Nokia N70, purchased in Australia . Davis, 51, enjoys the freedom to travel almost anywhere without signing up for a two-year plan with one carrier that forces her to pay huge roaming charges on the road. ...
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Nearly 8 million mobile phone users have switched carriers and kept their cell numbers since a new rule allowing that flexibility went into effect one year ago, the Federal Communications Commission disclosed Tuesday.
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The IEEE 802.20 mobile broadband wireless group seeks to prevent domination by a single company.
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Group seeks to make Web access for mobile device users as easy as it is for desktop users.
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3 is the UK's biggest 3G mobile network with over 3.7million customers in the UK and more than 13.5million across the globe. As the first 3G network 3 has led the way in the development of services such as TV over mobile, music on the move and mobile internet.
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A group of cellular operators have announced an initiative that they claim will help prevent distribution of child pornography using mobile phones.
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Vodafone Group says that it allows users of its 3G data cards and laptops with embedded connections to its network to run a VoIP client, although claims that it must monitor this closely as it does not want it being used as a gateway.