“My first priority is developing 3 as a brand that is built around data,” said 3 CEO David Dyson, speaking at the Intellect Consumer Electronics Conference this afternoon. It makes a lot of sense, given that 3 is one of the few UK operators which offers all-you-can-eat data packages – something which, according to Dyson, its subscribers are taking full advantage of. 

In March 2013, its 10m customers used an average 1.8 GB of mobile data per month, up from 1.1 GB a year earlier. Thats particularly significant when compared with the data limits offered by other operators – for example EE, whose cheapest 4G plans have a monthly data cap of 500 MB.

Dyson also shared what its mobile data is being used for. Streaming media had an overwhelming lead, with a 50 per cent share of all traffic – up from 38 per cent a year ago – while web browsing came second with a 33 per cent share. That figure is skewed by the heavier data usage of streaming services, but it nevertheless shows the popularity of music and video services on mobile, even on non-4G networks.

Taking on the competition

3 is planning to roll out 4G in the second half of the year, Dyson confirmed, but it will be focusing on using the added spectrum to boost capacity more than speeds. Thats a very different stance to the one currently being pushed by EE. The rival operator is unavoidable when talking about 4G in the UK, and Dyson had a few words to say on the subject:

“I dont disgaree with what EE are doing,” said Dyson. “But its perhaps more future-orientated than for the here and now. For a niche group of people, theyll take the majority of the market, but most people are still happy with what they can get today. 

“Whats really important is not when you roll out 4G services, but how well.”