[Ben]

Until now I've never really used my handsets a substantial amount because I don't make many voice calls and WAP was, well, WAP.

Even my Z1010 was only put to a limited amount of use - what can I say, I became uninspired.

I've just had my bill for '6680 month' and to my amazement my usage has increased substantially. For a start, I used 56.89 megs of data (costing me £2.94, mwuhahaha!) - and I have no idea how! I guess listening to vRadio over 3G and the BBC Multicast trial streams (while they were active) played a big part, but I'd imagine Agile Messenger and browsing the 'net on the phone browser will have played a big part too. Just wait until BB6 launches!

I've also sent a whole string of picture and video messages, which I'd never normally do, due to the 6680's sheer 'pick me up and use me'ness. Even more to my surprise, I somehow used 30 mins of talktime too.

The only thing I didn't use much was Video Calling - but I'd imagine that as I find more people out there who I want/need to videocall then that will change.

I actually spent double on my bill last month than I normally would through using the various non-voice features. A rosey picture for 3G?

Note: Some of you on Three may infact be spending less than on 2G... vote and tell us about it if that's the case.

[Jon3G]

This was purly because of the extra stuff like Ben as mentioned

[ads]

Hi Ben

How on earth did 56MB cost you under £3?!! Thats amazing!!

[3GScottishUser]

Less for sure. I dont exceed my monthly inclusive minutes (500) or send more texts than I get from the basic package and pay the equivilent of £5/month. The service is less than 100% but as I now work 9-5 I dont need much in the way of daytime use.

I tend to use my mobile for X/Net calls in the evenings and when travelling to/from work and I am spending about 1/6th of what i used to pay for a contract GSM model. I reckon this arrangement is temporary as i will cahnge again in November and look forward to a better 3G service even although it might cost a bit more. currently i also have a payg GSM handset which I use as backup when I cant use 3G.

[Hands0n]

I voted "About the same" as I do not exceed my inclusive minutes, nor do I draw down or make use of anything that is outside of my contracted and add-on allowances.

But then, unlike my Orange 2.5G contract, I cannot make use of the Internet access for my PDA etc, which I use frequently to exchange email, browse key websites etc. If my Three phone were able to do this then I would no doubt be exploiting the quicker network speeds. But it is a moot point as they dont, and so I stay with Orange for that access.

Come renewal in Jan 2006 I will be bundling all of my requirements into a single (3G) handset and will most likely stay with my incumbent 2.5G supplier for that facility and, like 3GSU, pay a bit more for the privilege. I'm not a little fed up with having to make do with the 3-wheeled Robin Reliant of the [3G] mobile phone world. Even if it is an E1000-based 3-wheeler.

[delinquentwoody]

Looking back, over the last year with 3 my average bill was around £35.

The year before, on T-Mobile, my average bill was around £70. (My usage has been pretty consistent, apart from a fair bit of content downloading from 3). So this reduction in spend is purely down to 3's cheap prices.

[Ben]

I thought it'd be 3 users who ended up spending less... that seems to be what you're all saying so far. For me, Orange 3G is letting me spend muuuch more! :)

ads - on my Orange plan I get 50mb/month free and anything else at 50p/mb! If it wasn't for that I wouldn't have been able to use my handset half as much as I have otherwise.

[3GScottishUser]

I dont use 3's content because its so uninspiring and so expensive.

25p for a 30' news clip or national weather. £1.50 for a quickplay postage stamp sized music video.

They must be joking!!

Even standing 50 yards away from a 3 cellsite the stream often stutteres and stops. I know becasue i sometime try the free stuff to demonstrate it to colleagues. All in all 3's version of 3G does not seem to deliver in terms of additional services, not for my money anyway.

[Jon3G]

This was purly because of the extra stuff like Ben as mentioned


Sorry just read my post, I voted yes

[3GScottishUser]

Is'nt strange how 3 users spend less yet 3 claim their ARPU is high?

My monthly spend is 1/6th what it used to be (£5/month) yet as an average 3 user (according to their data) I spend £41/month.

3's whole proposition is cheap voice calls and lots of inclusive texts. Their contract customers dont use up all their inclusive entitlement, according to 3's own senior management. The offers are transparent, highly subsidised low cost packages (£4.99/month, £0.99p/month etc), customers paying £100 for 12 months on a contract with lots of inclusive call time - yet ARPU still appears at £40?????

The above does not compute!