3 UK, the only UK operator (excluding MVNOs) not involved in the mCommerce Joint Venture announced earlier today, has reacted angrily to its exclusion from the initiative, describing it as a “stitch-up”.

Speaking exclusively to Mobile Marketing a few minutes ago, a spokesman for 3 told us: “The direction is good. It’s hard to see consumers going for mCommerce if they need a particular phone on a particular network and a particular bank account, but we sense something of stitch-up. The first we knew of this was around 10.45 this morning.”

When asked why this might be, the spokesman hinted at some resentment towards 3, a relative newcomer to the UK mobile scene when the 3G spectrum was auctioned in 2000, saying: “I think it’s for the same reason that other operators have taken a similar line on things like mobile number porting, where they tried to keep that from being reformed, and on termination rates, which they tried to keep high.

“(O2 UK CEO) Ronan Dunne said today that they did not specifically exclude 3, just as they did not exclude Facebook or Google, which I think is a very telling statement, because they obviously see them as a threat. It’s a very strange stitch-up. They have said we can access the services, but that’s like saying I can use PayPal; it doesn’t mean I get a say in how it operates.”

We are trying to secure an interview with one of the operators that is involved in the JV to bring you tomorrow.