3 is a brand name under which several UMTS based mobile phone networks are operated in Australia, Austria, Croatia, Denmark, Hong Kong, Macau, Indonesia, Ireland, Italy, Sweden, and the United Kingdom. The company was founded in 2002.
Hutchison Whampoa owns direct majority interests in the companies that operate the networks that are branded 3, except 3 Hong Kong and 3 Indonesia. These networks are majority-owned by the publicly listed Hutchison Telecommunications International Limited (HTIL), in which Hutchison Whampoa has a 50.003 percent majority interest.
All 3-branded networks provide 3G technology (WCDMA, some also run 2G networks). Hutchison Whampoa no longer holds a 3G-license in Israel which was operated under the brand Orange, and in Norway which is not operational yet. As of 4 August 2010, registered 3 customers worldwide numbered over 27,8 million.
Internet access
Like other mobile-provider Internet homepages, 3's portal is 'free to browse' for some content in most 3 countries including Ireland, UK and Australia in most price plans; the user pays a fixed price for each video, text or application downloaded.
Besides that, 3 UK and also 3 Ireland initially made the decision to block direct Internet access from handsets, while 3 Austria allowed access to the internet since the beginning.
In 2004, 3 released a PC card 3G Data Card ("NetConnect Card") for Windows-based laptops which allows Internet access through 3's network directly from the computer, accompanied by a range of data and business tariffs. Later, more cards and USB modems for HSDPA were introduced.
3 Skypephones
In November 2007, 3 started to sell the Skypephone, which was developed in conjunction with the Chinese phone manufacturer Amoi and Skype, combining the functionality of a UMTS handset with free voice calls and instant messages from Skype. The phones were sold exclusively by 3 on contract and on a prepaid basis.
3 Like Home (No Charge Roaming)
In February 2007 3 introduced '3 Like Home': a service that in theory allows subscribers to use any 3-branded network with the exception of 3 Indonesia without having to pay additional roaming charges, instead paying the same amount for voice, data, and messaging services as they would do on their home network. This also allows users to use their free or inclusive bundles and allowances while abroad. However, pre-pay customers do not benefit fully, as they can not yet use each 3 branded network for '3 Like Home'.
3 Australia confirm that calls made using '3 Like Home' are not included in any "cap" plan or inclusive bundles.
This arrangement is possible because of the roaming agreements between the networks. Each of the networks provides service to other partners networks free of internal roaming charges. This means that the marginal cost of a roaming call is much the same as a call on the home network.
At the end of April 2009 3UK announced that '3 Like Home' would no longer be available to customers of the 3UK network from the 30 June 2009. No such announcement has yet been made for customers of other 3 networks.
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