Three

Three, or "3" as it prefers to be called, is the newest mobile phone network in the UK.

Hutchison, the owners of 3, were the originators of Orange. They sold Orange to Mannesmann, a German mobile company (who wanted it as a "poison pill" to stop Vodafone buying them) for a good price (possibly £20 billion?) and a share in Mannesmann, at the height of the telecomms boom.

Vodafone bought the German company anyway (so had to sell Orange again), and Hutchison made even more money by selling their 10% stake of Mannesmann (probably for nearly £10 billion) before the telecomms bubble burst and valuations plummeted.

As a result, 3 have enough money to pay for the expensive 3G licence, build the network, and build market share by offering excellent deals to early adopters.

Why 3G?

The primary feature of the UMTS (3G) system is that it supports high speed data connections, equivalent to (or better than) broadband on fixed lines; fast enough to use streaming video on a mobile phone.

This opens the possibility of all sorts of services that could not work well with the "modem" speeds available to existing mobile networks.

To see the latest 3 or Three mobile phone deals - visit MobileShop.com.

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