Mobile network 3 has clocked up its 1 millionth mobile broadband customer in Europe. The company says the figure shows that demand for mobile broadband is strong in all 3s territories, including the UK, Ireland, Italy, Sweden, Denmark and Austria.
This milestone shows people everywhere want to access our mobile broadband services, says
Christian Salbaing, Managing Director European Telecoms at Hutchison Whampoa. Since we launched our offers late last year, we have seen phenomenal growth from customers who are using it to both supplement and replace their fixed line broadband. For many customers, it is their first personal broadband connection.
3 notes, however, that due to the high wholesale data roaming costs charged between mobile operators in Europe, it remains very expensive for consumers to use mobile broadband while travelling abroad and roaming onto other non-3 networks.
Mobile broadbands greatest strength is its mobility, yet consumers are rightly fearful of the excessive charges faced when they roam off our networks, says Salbaing. Some networks are charging the equivalent of 12 (9.50) to watch a three-minute YouTube clip, or up to 180 to download an hour of television. This could inflict serious harm on a growing market. Typical retail roaming prices are literally hundreds of times what customers expect to pay domestically. A European consumer might pay around one Euro cent per megabyte at home, yet pay a premium of 360-times that simply to cross a border.
European regulators are currently deciding on what action, if any, they will take to reduce international wholesale data roaming rates and Salbaing says he hopes the EC will make the most of the opportunity to bring the same clarity and value to data roaming that it did so successfully with voice last year.
The difference between domestic and roaming data rates is far greater than with voice, says Salbaing. Only wholesale action can put an end to charges that are sometimes hundreds of times greater than our customers pay at home.
3s European networks offer 3 Like Home tariffs that allow customers to roam using their domestic price plans while on 3s sister networks abroad. This means 3 customers can pay as little as a fraction of a Euro cent to access the Internet abroad. Elsewhere 3 charges around 3.79 per megabyte to its customers, which it says is based primarily on the wholesale rate charged.
Removing these international roaming costs has increased data roaming volumes between 3 networks by 2500% over 12 months, and 96% of 3s data roaming is now between 3 networks.