How successful is 3G REALLY in the UK?
I’m getting mixed messages about 3G take-up in the UK. On one hand, 3 announce that they have added 3m subscribers, and then on the other that Vodafone is thought to have attracted fewer than 200,000 customers in the UK to date, and Virgin Mobile have announced that they are pulling back from a a major launch of 3G due to a sensing a lack of interest among subscribers for the new technology.
Despite spending millions launching their services, Vodafone in particular, why aren’t consumers switching to 3G? Do the operators need to offer cheaper voice minutes to get people to take 3G handsets in the hope that consumers will start to use data services?
Maybe the operators have made a fundamental mistake - there’s no point persuading users to upgrade to 3G to make videocalls, only for them to realise they have no one to call! If none of your mates have got a video-calling handset then it’s useless.
Until 3G penetration reaches some sort of critical mass then I think users won’t get excited about video calling.
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Comment by Errol on 10 April 2005:
If 3G operators really want to start selling the data services, they will have to lower the rates on voice. If 3 have really managed to sell to 3M subscribers, I think it is entirely based on the low cost per voice minute rather than the data services.
I am curious to see how Orange manages to do with 3G. They are giving a free 3G handset to your mate when you buy a 3G phone. That might get things rolling…although it has not managed to motivate me yet. Then again, I am taking Connected's advice and am waiting for the 6680 to be generally available.
Comment by James MacAonghus on 28 April 2005:
The conflicting number seems to be the subscriber numbers for 3, but they are overinflated as an indicator for 3G. First of all, many of their early subscribers (like me) had no intention of using 3G but chose 3 because initially they offered free handsets and a gazillion free minutes for about ten pence a month. Secondly, since 3 are the most rubbish network in the UK for connectivity (or they were when I used them), they will have had a pretty big churn rate, but I am sure they still count many of the churned users as subscribers (in my case, they send me bills, 18 months after I left them). With Vodafone and Virgin, if you join their 3G services, you really want 3G. With 3, you might just want them for cheap calls or fancy handsets.
Comment by Mobile Market Research on 28 April 2005:
The Guardian (in one of its well-titled articles) reports that Carphone Warehouse says 3G will run away from the big operators this year (