Page 10 - Sphere No.10 (Dec 2003)
Basic HTML Version
S
PHERE
8
H U T C H I S O N U P D A T E S
News
bites
Customers of
3
in Sweden
have gained access to
several innovative services via their
3
video
mobile phones.
3
announced in October that it had
developed two solutions for companies that
enable their employees to read e-mail on their
mobile handsets. One solution resembles
a web-mail service (users are able to access
a WAP page with e-mail, calendar
and contacts) while the other
solution synchronises e-mail,
calendar and contacts in the
company network with
information on mobile handsets.
3
also teamed up with
SEB
to
launch mobile banking services
for private subscribers, enabling
users to make transactions and
payments, trade shares, and
access quotations and financial
news.The services are included
free in
3’s
basic service package.
Customers can also receive
streamed video news presented
by
Tidningarnas
Telegrambyrå
(TT).
On a lighter note, subscribers of
3
can follow
Channel 5’s
popular TV “docusoap” called
Masterplan
, allowing fans to
enjoy the opportunity to constantly see what
the participants are doing.
3
has also joined hands with
Lovesearch
to
co-operate on a simple video-dating service
whereby users can download short video clips
on to the Lovesearch members’ site.The goal,
according to Beatrice Ståhle, creative director at
Lovesearch, is that users will
be able to see all potential
dates within a 100m radius
of their mobile phone.
SWEDEN
Since Oct. 29,
subscribers to
3
in
Denmark and Sweden
have had access to streamed video news
via their mobiles, allowing them to view
video directly instead of clips first being
downloaded and then played.
The news service is presented by
TV2
.
DENMARK
/
SWEDEN
Following a national
advertising campaign by
H3G Denmark
, customers started pre-
booking video mobile phones on Oct.13
via
3’s
homepage
and through
the new
3Stores
in Copenhagen and Lyngby.
Customers could also pre-book at selected
distributors. Deliveries began in October.
Roaming Liaison
Pre-Booking
DENMARK
H3G
has been luring customers to its
3
networks with a selection of tariff plans.
Hi3G Access AB
in Sweden launched two
options, named
3Fri
(
3Free
). For as little as
SEK149 per month (approximately
US$19.50)
3Fri
offers 60 or 300 free minutes
of talk time and the same rates to all other
networks in Sweden.
3
also launched a value
package called
3Fri Kväll & Helg (3Free
Evenings &Weekends).
H3G Austria
meanwhile has been offering
special deals to businesses that provide
wireless mobile Internet access.The
3Business
800+
package includes 800 minutes of voice
and 30MB of data for
E
69 per month with
savings of up to
E
100 on the
Motorola A920
.
3
also launched a student package that offers
a
E
50 discount on the
A920
.
H3G UK
has unveiled two new monthly
tariff plans.
VideoTalk 100
includes 100 voice
minutes for £15 and
Football 500
is a £30
plan that combines 500 voice minutes with
unlimited football content.
3
also introduced
a wide range of content add-ons for as little
as £5.
Video for Voice
is a promotion under
which customers can make video calls for the
same price as voice calls for the first three
months of a 12-month contract.
3
celebrated
the festive season with free videocalls for all
between Dec. 22 and Jan. 2 inclusive.
“Down under,”
H3G Australia
offered great
savings on the
Motorola A835
when customers
pre-ordered and connected to
3 for All
on
a 24-month service plan.With
3 for All
, which
replaces the
First on 3
introductory offer,
connection fees and the price for
Videotalk
calls have been cut in half while customers can
pay as little as 10c per SMS to any mobile.
TemptingTariffs
Hi3G Denmark
in
August signed an
agreement of collaboration with telecom
company
TDC
which will ensure that
customers of the
3
service have roaming access
to the national network for mobile telephony
and SMS in areas outside the company’s own
mobile broadband network.
DENMARK
News on Stream
Stockholm-based Robert Bauer is one of
a growing number of subscribers who is
finding that life can be a lot simpler and
more productive with
3
.
Robert runs a small business in the
electrical industry and was one of the first
customers in Sweden to sign up for the
3
services.
Robert mainly uses his mobile at work.
His staff all have a
3
video mobile phone
and this has been a major advantage as it
lets them show each other various
technical connections from a distance.
Before he got his
3
video mobile phone,
Robert would sometimes have to travel all
the way across Stockholm — a journey
of 50km — to solve a very simple
problem. Now he can solve problems
from the office.
“The mobile immediately paid for itself,”
he says.
When he is on the move, Robert
particularly appreciates the Positioning
Service which shows his location via an
on-screen map.
“As an electrician, you sometimes get
quite dangerous jobs. If someone falls off
a ladder, it’s a good thing for the others of
us to know where he is,”Robert explains.
Although Robert chiefly uses his
3
video
mobile phone in a work context, he also
enjoys its benefits privately.
“It’s great fun to sit in the pub and have
a video conversation with your mates,” he
says. “I’ve shown the mobile to a lot of
pals, and they’re all interested.”
He also uses his
3
video mobile phone to
watch finance news and weather reports.
“It’s like a microwave oven,” he adds.“You
don’t know that you need one, but once
you’ve gone out and got one it’s difficult
to see how you managed without it.”
3 and Me
T E L E C O M S
E-mail, Banking and Dating on the Move
