[3GScottishUser]

What are 3 UK thinking about?

All that launch activity for x-series and it's confined to ONE handset (Nokia N73).

Not even the new LG Chocolate HSDPA enabled phone has been included!!!

Looks like another half-baked 3 launch!!

[tednol]

It'll be confined to Symbian phones for now, won't it?

I think the SE W950 is coming out on X-series soon.

[getti]

X-Series will be coming out in the SE W950i in January. You can sort of get it now on the N80 though. Phone up CS and ask for X-Series Silver.

A bit of sweet talking and you at least get the 1GB data for £5 a month.

The N95 will also be X-Series in march with more phones due before then. The reason its only on the N73 now is Series 60 is much easier to program software for than a touch screen UIQ. Also with the N80 being discontinued this is why they are not supporting it as a x-series handset

[whatleydude]

Hmmmmmmm.... N95.

[3GScottishUser]

Still seems like a half baked scheme.....

No HSDPA, one standard 3G handset so far and the 2nd in January 2007 will have no camera!!

N95?? Who knows if 3 will actually provide it? They did'nt support the N90, N91, N93, etc....

I'm sorry but guesswork simply does not excuse the pityful effort that is the 'x-series' to date.

It's Web'N'Walk, but more epensive when taking account of the mins and SMS available at the price and customers have far more choice with Web'N'Walk.

What a mess 3 have made of this and it'll have cost them a small fortune into the bargain.

[Ben]

All this said, when Web n Walk came out there were only one or two handsets that supported it - and 6280 support was marred by problems with the Opera browser and wotnot. Lets hope we don't have to wait long for a larger X Series range so we can see how much mileage the product really has.

[chaslam]

Still seems like a half baked scheme.....

No HSDPA, one standard 3G handset so far and the 2nd in January 2007 will have no camera!!

N95?? Who knows if 3 will actually provide it? They didn't support the N90, N91, N93, etc....

I'm sorry but guesswork simply does not excuse the pityful effort that is the 'x-series' to date.

It's Web'N'Walk, but more epensive when taking account of the mins and SMS available at the price and customers have far more choice with Web'N'Walk.

What a mess 3 have made of this and it'll have cost them a small fortune into the bargain.
Everything has to start somewhere. AS time progresses more and more handsets will have x-series available and more services will be added. Your kind of contradicting yourself here, saying that x-series is crap, and then you complain because its only on 1 handset? I dont get it.

[E616Vboy123]

Everything has to start somewhere. AS time progresses more and more handsets will have x-series available and more services will be added. Your kind of contradicting yourself here, saying that x-series is crap, and then you complain because its only on 1 handset? I dont get it.

I think Three are an excellent network. At home I get full 3G signal on my good ol' E616V (when i fetch it out for a bit of a play:) )but if I put my o2 simcard in i struggle to get any signal at all. Ok, I don't like CS, but I have only ever had to call them once, and every network has their flaws. Three even have very competative handsets now, instead of the terrible LG's and the oversized NEC's.

[Hands0n]

Thats the shame of it all with 3. Their CS has utterly alienated me and no end of others that I know (personally and associates). Their CS has done trememendous loyalty damage. I'll, in all likelihood, never be a 3 Customer ever again, although I do watch them with interest.

To be sure, 3's 3G network has been very strong in the Kent area, I have never had a problem with it - even since their early days when it was patchy. But even then their CS managed to get rid of me, and it was almost two years before I came back.

Their walled garden and expensive Internet access, when it finally arrived, put me off completely. I waited, and waited, and waited .... then T-Mobile launched Flext and Web N Walk, the rest is history, they won the business.

I am sceptical about the x-series at the moment - but then, as has been said, it is indeed early days for that particular launch. Will 3 make something useful to the Customer out of it? I really don't know. I see a huge, nay massive, market for cheap-as-chips 3G (HSDPA or otherwise) wireless data - but [so far it seems] the mobile ops do not. There are very many for whom wired ADSL is nothing but a headache; these would be the rental and student market where mobility would solve removal issues in a snap. But until the data tariffs start to approach that of wired data it will remain somewhat niche.

So, are 3 nimble and aware enough to also see this market and address it with their HSDPA-enabled network? Is x-series a first and right step in that direction? Roll on this time next year :)

[3GScottishUser]

It's actually quite sad watching 3's antics at the moment.

The x-series produced a wealth of publicity, probably more than was justified considering it is little more than Web'N'Walk with a couple of dubious additions in terms of practicality. Looking beyond the hype it's clear this launch was flawed as 3 only have a single handset available now and only a small number of customers will be able to buy x-series as an add on due to this limitation. I suspect x-series could prove useful as a retention tool for a limited number of customers but when combined with the current tariffs it's simply uncompetitive and likely to be a complex proposition for customers who seek a value for money mobile service. Once again 3 are desparatey trying to increase non-voice revenues and that agenda appears to be a very risky strategy in such a visciously competitive market like the UK. I think the concept of Web'N'Walk and x-series is good but would T-Mobile have made the kind of splash 3 did if they only had one handset that featured it? Doubtful!!

3 UK must now be suffering substantial loss of customers. Pre-pay, with the exception of the dumping of very poor handsets like the Motorola c975 through HWL's own outlets, is all but vanquished. There is next to no High Street or Internet activity promoting the disasterous 'WePay' product.

Contract growth also looks bleak with very poor representation over the last few months in all the major outlets and on-line. Newer 3 handsets like the LG Chocolate, SE W850i and Nokia N73 have not been promoted very widely outwith 3's own website and company stores and franchises.

Meanwhile the churn continues. Just today a colleague of mine went and collected his new SE W850i on Orange with free Orange Broadband on a new 18 month contract, cancelling his 3 contract and setting aside his Nokia 6680. Stop the Clock, Family, Passport, Free Broadband, More Minutes and Texts for the money and much better choice of handsets are all factors why 3 UK will be finding it hard to keep customers and hungry dealers like CPW will be on the lookout for 3 customers as they must rank as very fertile prospects to churn.

For a time 3 UK had wads of cash to spend and a cavalier attitude that led to them acquiring customers at any cost. They were the darlngs of the dealers, filling the tills and dealers know that everything is cyclic and another hungry network/s would do likewise in time. That time has now arrived, HWL have pulled back and are having to take a double whammy as dealers promote other products at 3's expense. A bit of a nightmare scenario, poor 3 UK appear to have lined the pockets of the majors for a short term gain, now they are having to build their own network of retail and direct sales to try and take control of their own destiny. That is realistic but perhaps a bit too late as the rest have already been moving in that direction for some time, probably as a result of watching the ill concieved 3 strategy!!

I'm sure 3 works for some and a few will have had decent value from them over the last 18 months or so but it's going to be almost impossible for them to win back customers who suffered the woes of early handsets and customer service. The massive problem for 3 now is that having driven down the profit margins for voice and text the scope for further reductions in price are limited. Non-Voice is now the battleground and margins there now apppear to be plummeting, the Sarin prediction of fixed price ISP mobile services seems likely and x-series/Web'N'Walk are simply a stepping stone towards that new pricing structure that the Vodafone CEO envisages.

Ultimately customers decide what will succeed or fail and presently 3G alone does not appear enough to make UK consumers buy into it. Sarin (Vodafone) and Erskine (02) know that customers dont buy technology, they buy services and dont care how they work - just that they do!! Orange has moved in a different direction and is offering converged mobile, Broadband, Landline phone calls via VoIP and soon VOD. Even MVNO Virgin has played the convergence card using parent NTL for quad-play services. The market has a lot on offer now and for mobile operators (as Vodafone/NTL/Orange & 02) have realised they have to be far more flexible and offer a range of different packages to different customers to satisfy a vast range of needs to maintain large user numbers. That goes for all catagories of service from cheap SIM only PAYG to high value 3G voice and content services.

Lots of options, lots of combinations and now lots of convergence.... where that leaves a pure 3G service provider offering voice, text, mobile content and Internet alone .... is questionable.... the fact that HWL CEO Canning Fok has decided to become much more closely involved in the running of 3 UK tells it's own story....

See Here: http://www.mobiletoday.co.uk/content/15312.asp?men=0&sub=1

[Ben]

Time will tell whether this will be a success or not. I certainly don't think Three as a network will be going anywhere in the short term - I know increasing numbers of people that are moving over to Three contracts purely from a value standpoint.

However, where X-Series on Three really shines is in terms of their extensive 3G coverage. All of the services in X-Series are optimal under 3G and no other network currently has the coverage to make such a service credible and a success. We have to give credit to Three for trying a new strategy and for once more differentiating itself in terms of product from the other networks. Choice is important and, for the sake of the consumer, I can only hope X-Series enjoys some success.

Who knows, now Three have joined T-Mobile's club of making data affordable maybe the other networks will follow suit. Nahh ;)

[@NickyColman]

I think its a good thing that Three have got involved with some big names who can drag people (kicking and screaming) into the mobile data world. WindowsLive Messenger, SlingBox, Skype etc. - all big names with people who are more tech savvy.

Perhaps Three are going after a younger, more "advanced" market, than that of say Vodafone who are playing the "family" card, and Orange who are pushing the "together" side of things.