3G AND BEYOND 27/01/2005

O2 is a late runner in the 3G race but the company has a clear idea of where it wants to take the technology and a decent selection of mobiles from leading manufacturers, including its own X4 handset. The phones go on sale next Tuesday for contract customers, and pay-as-you-go services will commence in the next few weeks. In conjunction, the O2 Active portal is being relaunched with personalised browsing and greater content including film previews, music videos, audio tracks, news and sports.

Customers can choose between the O2 X4, Nokia 6630, Samsung Z107, Motorola V975 and Sony Ericsson V800. The O2 X4 clamshell handset features a 26K colour display, video streaming, an MP3 music player and a 1.3-megapixel camera with flash. It has 10MB internal memory and a miniSD slot with a 64MB storage card included. Pricing is set at £249 for pre-pay (inc. VAT) and free to £30 with contract (inc. VAT).

The company has a 3G network coverage of 30 percent across the UK, concentrated in urban centres, and plans to have more than 50 percent coverage by June. When subscribers are out of range, they will be automatically switched to GPRS/GSM networks. Contracts range from £25 per month for 100 voice minutes to £35 per month for 250 voice minutes. For the next three months, O2 is offering video calls for the same price as voice calls. All plans include 100kb data browsing, where 1MB is equivalent to browsing 150 to 200 pages. For an additional £4 per month, customers get up to 5MB browsing.

O2 also gave a glimpse of what the future holds for 3G and mobile Internet. In the second half of 2005, it plans to introduce i-mode handsets and services offering extensive Internet content, allowing you to check your bank balance, buy tickets and order from e-tailers. Super-fast 3G is also in the works for next year, using HSDPA technology for mobile broadband speed of up to 1Mbps, and customer trials of mobile broadcast TV with 16 channels are scheduled for spring 2005.

Contact: www.o2.co.uk