3 launches Pay As You Go

Struggling 3G outfit 3 has announced it is to enter the pay as you go arena with its own extremely competitively priced PAYG service.

With pay as you go now accounting for around 70 per cent of the mobile phone market it is no surprise that 3 has taken the decision in order to boost customer numbers. But what’s perhaps more surprising is that the operator has decided to focus so heavily on value for money rather than emphasising the strong points of the technology such as video calling.

ThreePay customers can chose from three top-up vouchers with calls exactly the same price regardless of the mobile network/landline being called. Importantly because customers pay for the number of minutes, they know exactly how long they are going to get before they need to buy a new top up voucher.

3 claims that anyone currently spending more than £15 a month with another network operator will save money with its service. However, the downside is that vouchers have to be used up within 30 days of activation.

Here are the three vouchers:
£15 voucher = 100 minutes
£25 voucher = 500 minutes
£35 voucher = 750 minutes

Bob Fuller, Chief Executive of 3, said: “3’s challenge as the new-entrant is to shake up a stale and unimaginative market; to find ways of delivering better value to consumers. We have put an end to the Pay-As-You-Go practice of charging punitive prices for cross-network, peak-time calls. Our offer is fair, simple and excellent value. The calls cost the same no matter what time it is, or which network you’re calling. What’s more, we are not punishing customers for paying up front; we are offering them the same value available to our contract customers.”

ThreePay will initially be available with the Motorola A835 mobile phone.