Hutchison redefines mobile Internet access

Stuart Corner
Thursday, 16 November 2006 16:48

Your IT - Home IT

Canning Fok, group managing director of Hutchison Whampoa, said: "Mobile broadband is the natural next step for mobile services, extending the full power of the Internet to mobile handsets. By partnering with the leaders of the Internet and the leading handset makers, the X-Series from 3 will give everyone access to more of what they want, when they want it, and however much of it they want, all free when they use it."

X-Series customers will be charged flat access fees for X-Series mobile broadband services on top of their basic subscription. The access fees will include all they can Skype, all they can chat by instant text message and all they can search and browse.

There will initially be an additional access fee for customers who also take higher-bandwidth services like Sling and Orb. Hutchison says that, just like the fixed line internet, all X-Series services will be free at the point of use, subject only to fair usage limits and "will lay the foundations for the mobile broadband charging models of the future...This charging structure overturns the traditional telephony model of charging per minute, per message, per click, per event and per megabyte."

Hutchison claims the new charging regime has been made possible by the rapid development of all IP) mobile networks, HSDPA and HSUPA network speed upgrades, peer-to-peer technologies, and a number of efficiency improvements in every aspect of a mobile operator's business.

An X-Series customer who purchases a Slingbox will be able to watch anything they are able to watch on their own TV, including their terrestrial TV, Freeview, cable, and satellite TV, at the same time, on their mobile. Slingbox will also let X-Series customers control their home personal video recorder (PVR) to watch shows they have recorded, pause and rewind live TV, or even queue a recording when away from home using their mobile.

Using Orb means people can access the digital content that they have stored on their PC at home, including music files, playlists, digital photos and videos, on their X-Series handset. Orb has specifically designed a user interface for X-Series handsets.

X-Series from 3 will offer customers text instant messages, to or from Windows Live Messenger or Yahoo! Messenger, to another X-Series handset, or a PC. Sending and receiving text instant messages with an X-Series mobile will be free.

Customers will be able to search the Internet without limitation from their mobile using a Google or Yahoo search engine, depending on their choice and the search services available in their country. Searching and browsing the internet on mobile will be free.