[3GScottishUser]

Spotted this on T3's website:

How Good Is 3's HTC Hero Spotify Premium Bundle?

Is this the finest bargain in mobile land?

3 Mobile's decision to launch the double T3 Gadget Award-winning HTC Hero smartphone (that boasts the T3 Gadget Award-winning Android OS designed by the T3 Gadget Award-winning Google) with the T3 Gadget Award-winning Spotify music streaming surface service appears to be a masterstroke.

The shock move, which took the tech world by surprise this morning, sees the UK's smallest network serve up perhaps the finest deal on the UK market for the Gadget of the Year.

3 is offering the handset for as little as £35-a-month, plus a one-off fee of £100. For that, users will get 700 minutes of talk time, unlimited texts and unlimited internet. Add into the mix 3's pledge to offer customers free skype-to-skype 3-to-3 calls and we've got quite a deal.

The big selling point, of course, is the inclusion of a Spotify Premium subscription worth £240, which is a no brainer for those looking to invest in the music streaming service named Innovation of the Year at last week's T3 Gadget Awards.

The HTC Hero, which was also named Phone of the Year during the 14th October ceremony is currently available on Orange and T-Mobile in the UK.

For £35-a-month, Orange offers 900 minutes, unlimited texts and 500mb of mobile internet browsing, while T-Mobile users are entitled to 800 minutes, unlimited texts and unlimited internet. Both company's deals are for 24 months, with a free handset.

So the tariffs themselves are quite similar, but effectively 3 offers Spotify for a cut-price £4-a-month, which could be the clincher for many potential users, making this the best deal on the web.

http://www.t3.com/news/how-good-is-3s-htc-hero-spotify-premium-bundle?=41529

Is this a real mass-market proposition?

I don't think so at £730.00 in total.

[Ben]

Seems like a reasonable proposition. But this is just the start, I think we'll see much more enticing deals as time goes by, I think Three will run with Spotify as their new tech-hype-watchword :)

[3GScottishUser]

Seems like a reasonable proposition. But this is just the start, I think we'll see much more enticing deals as time goes by, I think Three will run with Spotify as their new tech-hype-watchword :)

Do you think there is much chance of 3 being able to provide a high quality music stream when many folk can't manage to make a simple voice call for any length of time with them?

I definately would not gamble £730 on them with the form I have experienced.

[Ben]

Yeah, their network isn't all bad these days, I suppose the T-Mobile integration has a lot to do with that. While not a high quality music stream, I've successfully streamed over 12 hours of radio at a time over my 3 dongle, in poor coverage.

[Hands0n]

I wouldn't trust 3 as far as I could throw them.

Across the road from me, less than 150m, are two 3 masts - one in plain view, the other hidden in a petrol station price board. The signal quality and availability is atrocious!

Anyone who recalls my recent flirtation with 3's USB dongle - reported on T3G - will know that I had to send it back because I couldn't hold a decent mobile broadband signal. Actually, thats not true, the signal strength was fine - it was the data path that was up and down like a woman of the night's underwear. Doubtless I was flipping from one mast to the other, one of which had a faulty data path. But that is not the point. I would not wish to expose myself to a £730 risk on the basis that 3 can't manage their network effectively.

I've said it a squillion times before - trade with 3 entirely at your own risk, but at least be aware of what that risk is. With 3 "Caveat Emptor" is writted large! :eek:

[Ben]

WRT dongle: This is true, I'd still not commit to a contract with them, I'm strictly on 30 day rolling! Still, the thing has come in handy a few times now. Nice to have a backup. But then how many people do you know who carry around _two_ dongles... LoL.

[gorilla]

This is a terrible deal. 24 months X £35 = £840 + £100 for the handset = £940

Ok, the tariff offers a lot and you get spotify, but to me it's not worth nearly a grand. The premium spotify service assumes I would normally buy £10 of music per month. I do not now (not that I steal it either, I just consumer other music e.g. radio, podcasts etc) so therefore why would I pay more each month for a service that I would not get the benefit of?

Next consideration is 3. I have had reasonable experience, but I most certainly would not sign up to a two year contract (on any network) never mind 3.

I do however applaud the idea and I suspect more of these deals will soon appear. Napster on vodafone for example.

I'm not convinced the UK networks can cope with increased data usage though.

[Ben]

I'm not convinced the UK networks can cope with increased data usage though.
Hm, things might get a little choppy for a while... only consumption is going to drive investment, though :/

I think everyone is hanging back now on deployment until new spectrum is released. Everyone wants 3G/LTE in 900MHz.