By Will Sturgeon, 24 February 2004 09:05
NEWS Newcomer to the UK mobile phone market 3 has announced its first pay-as-you-go package, catching up with its established rivals in the sector.
Pay-as-you-go packages are often popular with teenagers and the latest entrant to the UK market is clearly keen to get a slice of the pester-power driven, must-have-gadget market.
The service went live yesterday and consumers are offered a choice of £15, £25 or £35 top-up vouchers, which will be redeemed against the same call charges currently paid by contract consumers on the 3 network.
That move is particularly controversial, as typically pay-as-you-go call charges have been dearer than contract charges, to make up, in part, the revenues lost from charging no monthly subscription.
To date, 3's competitive contract pricing has been geared around stealing market share from the incumbent operators and network owners, O2, Orange, T-mobile and Vodafone.
It's foray into the pay-as-you-go market is also likely to affect Virgin Mobile, whose business model is built entirely around pay-as-you-go and which benefits from a great deal of youth appeal, due in part also to cross-selling it in Virgin Megastore record shops.
3 will be hoping its much-advertised video-messaging function will have a suitable 'wow-factor' to win over wavering teens or those looking to pester a new phone out of the 'olds'.
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