LONDON-U.K. newcomer Hutchison 3G has released additional pricing details for its third-generation service, dubbed “3,” which it says will formally launch on March 3, with “pre-orders” beginning online Feb. 22. The operator also announced two types of pricing, a “pay-as-you-go” scheme and two bundled options.
The company will initially offer three handsets, two from NEC Corp. and one from Motorola Inc. The NEC e606 and Motorola A830 are priced at $649, and the NEC e808 is priced at $731. The high handset prices mean the greenfield operator has chosen not to subsidize handsets.
Under the “3toGo” pricing plan, voice calls start at 8 U.S. cents per minute, with video calls reaching 81 cents per minute. Text messages are 16 cents, standard e-mail is 8 cents and content via short message service begins at 16 cents per minute. Sports highlight videos are charged the most of all services at $1.63 per minute.
Under the two bundled pricing plans, users will get 1,000 minutes of voice calls, 100 video call minutes and 25 text messages for about $98 per month. For a $163 monthly fee, users get 2,000 voice minutes, 200 video call minutes and 500 text messages. Some content is free until June 30 under both bundled plans.
