OXFORD, United Kingdom-In what would appear to be an industry first, U.K.-based cell-phone operator MmO2 has published tariffs for its third-generation (3G) service running in the Isle of Man. The company has been conducting pilot trials of 3G services on the island for some months and now apparently feels confident to announce four pricing bands aimed at corporate, SME, consumer and mobile Internet users.
However, while analysts have reacted positively to the announcement, the subscription charges look heavyweight to others. The monthly charge starts at 68 euro (US$65.5) for residential users, including an extra 39 euro (US$37.6) for up to 20 Megabytes and 1.5 euro (US$1.44) for each additional Megabit. Prices increase to about 134 euro (US$129) per month for corporate users and between 93 (US$89) and 109 euro (US$105) for SMEs. These charges do not include voice calls, which would typically add around 53 euro (US$51) a month for U.K. subscriptions.
Mark Briers, director of 3G for MmO2, said that the objective of this commercial trial is to find out what customers want and how much they are willing to pay for the various services. “We have an initial pricing structure, but will be testing a number of pricing strategies during the trial in order to look at price elasticities,” he said.
Results from the limited tests conducted by MmO2 are reported as indicating that users are beginning to take an interest in mobile Internet access, but observers admit this might change once the new charges are imposed. However, MmO2 would appear to have priced its 3G service lower than its slower General Packet Radio Service (GPRS) service, which has experienced sluggish adoption elsewhere in Europe.
