3 UK Opens the Door to Wireless Internet Use

Hutchison 3G is finally going to unlock their wireless internet garden wall and let their customers access a wider range of wap and web sites on their 3G handsets. Until now, 3 has blocked access to the vast majority of WAP sites that would have worked on their handsets. 3 will still have to pre-approve wireless internet sites for use on their platform, but they are slightly undoing the straight-jacket that has restricted their customers for the past few years.

3 says that it expects the number of sites accessible through the 'Mobile Web' to grow quickly as more sites are optimised and has invited customers to nominate sites they would like to access from their mobiles.

Gareth Jones, COO of 3, said: "We are about offering the best of the web on mobile and ensuring the customer experience. Currently only a fraction of the internet works well on mobile - but the good news is that many of the UK's most popular sites, including the BBC, eBay and Amazon have now been optimised. We are committed to extending the choice of high-quality video mobile services - this service means the best of internet is now available to our customers over their mobiles.

He added: "This is a two-way street, we have over three million customers and we want our customers' help - we're asking them to nominate what sites they want and we'll check whether they make sense on mobile. We expect to add hundreds more over the coming months."

3 is also finally going to permit laptop users to connect to the normal internet, using a 3G handset as a modem. 'Wireless Web' will be available on 3 from mid-September to provide open internet access for customers with laptops, using their 3 handset as a modem. For customers with a contract on 3, the Wireless Web provides internet access at a flat rate of

Posted to the site on 13th September 2005