This week we’ve introduced a brand new product to our broadband range. It’s the first time it’s been launched in the UK, and it’s designed for the significant chunk of the population, especially renters and students, that have told us they want Wi-Fi at home, just without the phone line and the lengthy contract.

So we’ve designed  Web Cube, and it’s something that we’re really excited about.

The Web Cube’s Wi-Fi signal is powered by our 3G network, so it comes ready-to-go with a mobile broadband SIM card. It’s really easy to set up – just plug it in, turn it on and connect using the name and password supplied in the box. You don’t need a phone line to get going, as long as it’s plugged into the mains and your SIM is inserted, our network will do the rest.

The Web Cube is HSPA+ enabled to the 21.1Mbps technical standard, to deliver typical download speeds of 2-5Mbps, comparable to those of entry-level fixed-line broadband solutions, with the potential to reach a maximum download speed in excess of 10Mbps. Up to five Wi-Fi enabled devices can be connected at any one time, including smartphones, laptops and tablets, and it has a range of up to 30 metres.

Because the Web Cube is brand new to the UK, before we take it nationwide we’ve chosen to launch in a few key cities first. We want to test the market, so we’ve gone to Leeds, Glasgow and Edinburgh, some of our most successful areas for Mobile Broadband, to kick things off.

We hope to be able to roll-out Web Cube nationwide very soon, so if you’re not in Glasgow, Edinburgh or Leeds but you’re still interested, you can register your details online and we’ll be in touch when we have more information.

In the meantime, if you manage to get your hands on one, or if you know someone who has one, we’d love to hear your feedback.

Introducing Broadband in a Box.

If you’re already with Three or you’re a regular reader of our blog you’ll know that we’ve given all our smartphone customers the chance to say goodbye to data limits. Whether you’re on contract or Pay As You Go, you can get all the internet you’ll ever need with one of our all-you-can-eat data smartphone tariffs. No more stress about how much you’re using, or how big your data bill will be at the end of the month.

So if you’ve said Hello to Three, whether it was today, last week or over a year ago, or if you plan to in the very near future, join us in bidding a fond farewell to limited internet by tweeting with the hashtag #GoodbyeDataLimits.

We’ll even be giving away a smartphone on Three, or an accessory, every day to one lucky winner who takes part.

Getting involved couldn’t be easier. All you need to do is follow us - @ThreeUK – and say Hello to Three by tweeting #GoodbyeDataLimits before the end of February.

We’ll be picking one random winner every day, and we’ve lined up a whole host of prizes ready waiting to be won. We know that you guys love smartphones, so you could win a HTC Sensation XE or XL, a Sony Ericsson Xperia Arc S, Galaxy Nexus or an LG Optimus 3D, all teamed up with a Pay As You Go SIM from Three preloaded with a months worth of all-you-can-eat data paired with loads of texts and minutes. We’ve even got our hands on some of our most popular accessories, including Jabra headphones.

We’ll be keeping track of the number of people that have said #GoodbyeDataLimits with a ticker at the top right hand corner of our blog.

Good luck! And don’t forget to have a peek at our Terms and Conditions too.

Have you said #GoodbyeDataLimits yet?

With Mobile Word Congress just around the corner, we’re gearing ourselves up for lots of exciting smartphone announcements. So we’re going to start as we mean to go on by talking to you about Samsung’s latest offering, the Samsung Galaxy S Advance. I’m happy to confirm that it’ll be coming soon to Three.

First things first, the exterior. One of my favourite things about the Samsung Galaxy S Advance is its gorgeously tactile curved glass design which I think you’re going to love, it looks stunning.

Looks aren’t everything though, right? The hint is in the name but the Galaxy S Advance is a really powerful smartphone too. It comes with a fast 1.0GHz dual core processor which makes the user experience super-quick and smooth.

The Samsung Galaxy S Advance also features a 5 megapixel camera with HD video and playback, which can be enjoyed in vivid colour on the large 4-inch super AMOLED screen.

We can’t say much more at the moment but we’ll keep you posted on its arrival. For now take a look at our latest ‘Sneak Peek’ video and let us know what you think.

Next stop: Mobile World Congress, keep your eyes peeled for our announcements .

Samsung Galaxy S Advance is coming to Three.

According to the New York Times, the allure of the text message has started to ‘fade’. In some countries around the world, it says, the SMS has fallen victim to the many and varied alternative services that have been made accessible by smartphones.

It’s a startling prediction, especially when the meagre text has become so integral to the way that we use our mobiles, but I’m not sure it’s one that we’re ready to accept here at Three.

There’s no doubt about it, data is the future – you only need to look at how much of it our customers’ managed to use over the New Year period. But the rise of BBM, iMessage, Whatsapp and the like haven’t quite spelled the end for traditional SMSing for us yet. Texting is part of a rich choice of communication and not a substitution for something else.

In fact, our research shows that when it comes to choosing a price plan, a decent bundle of texts is still important to customers. And in contrast to the figures included in the New York Times article, we actually saw a 28% rise in the number of SMSs sent on New Year’s Eve – 46 million on 31st December 2011 compared to 36 million the year before.

We’re also seeing a rise in communication from businesses to their customers via text – “your car is ready for collection” and “don’t forget your appointment”.

So as far as we’re concerned, we’re not quite ready to wave goodbye to our 160 character friend just yet. Of course, we recognise the importance and rise in popularity of those new services, and we’ve lead the way by including all-you-can-eat data on our smartphone plans so you never have to worry about the cost, but a text allowance will remain a feature of our plans for as long as our customers tell us they want one.

We’re not saying c u l8er just yet .

Is the world saying c u l8er to texts?

It’s that time of the year again. The who’s who of the tech world have packed up their gadgets and headed to Vegas for the world’s largest technology tradeshow, CES – otherwise known as the Consumer Electronics Show.

If you’re a technology news hound, sleep is sure to be off limits for the next four days. At CES, companies from all over the world come together to announce new products and developments – and due to the time difference, if you’re in the UK like me, you’ll need to be up way past your bed-time to be the first to hear the latest news.

As such, even though it’s 2am here (6pm in Sin City) Sony has just announced its very first smartphone since it took full control of Sony Ericsson in 2011 – the Xperia™ S.

With the Xperia™ S it’s all about the HD experience. Its 4.3” Reality Display with Mobile BRAVIA® Engine makes for a brilliant viewing experience, the colours are vivid and displayed in super-fine detail.

My favourite feature is the 12 megapixel camera with Exmor™ R sensor technology, ensuring perfect pictures, even in low light.

In true sneak peek style, we can’t tell you too much yet as we’ve only just got our hands on it ourselves! Take a look at our video in the meantime. We’ll let you know more details when we can.

Sony Xperia™ S is coming to Three.

It’s New Year’s Eve – you’re heading out to celebrate the festivities with friends and family. You’ve got your keys, your wallet and of course, your smartphone. The clock chimes midnight, and after a minute or two of (tuneless!) Auld Lang Syne, phones are out and heads are down as you’re drawn into the virtual well-wishing taking place in the palm of your hand.

Maybe it’s me, but I seemed to notice it even more this year – the friends and family that I spent New Year’s with couldn’t leave their phones alone. From Twitpics of fireworks, to Facebook wall posts wishing people all the best, my nearest and dearest certainly took advantage of being linked in to the wider world through their 3G connections.

And it appears we were on trend. Across the whole of the UK we saw an incredible 600% increase in the smartphone data travelling across our network compared to New Year’s Eve 2010.

On the 31^st December ’10 we recorded a huge 14TBs (terabytes) of data being used on Three. In 2011, that leapt to a staggering 80TBs of data. In real terms, that’s the equivalent of almost 21 million MP3 tracks or roughly 118,000 movies being downloaded onto smartphones in the UK in just 24-hours.

And it didn’t stop there! You continued using data through to New Year’s Day, with 74TBs used compared to 14TBs the year before.

Facebook was one of the most popular services as people rung in the New Year, with a 20% jump in traffic between midnight and 1am.

There’s a lot to look forward to in 2012. I can’t wait to hear your thoughts on the new smartphones that’ll be hitting the market to help you make the most of the apps and internet services that have emerged in 2011 – and all safe in the knowledge that with all-you-can-eat data you can use them as much as you like.

Happy New Year!

Data surges as New Year’s eve celebrations commence.

Whether you’ve got a smartphone or a Mobile Broadband product with us, there’s one question you’re always keen to find out the answer to – what speeds should I expect on the Three network? Along with reliability and value, speed of connection is a really important factor for people when it comes to choosing a mobile network.

The answer to the speed question isn’t a simple one though, and it’s not the same for everyone, so let’s start with a bit of background…

We’re still the only dedicated 3G network in the UK. That means that the technology behind our network is designed for data and internet on the move.

It carries calls and texts too, obviously, but the fact that our network is more capable of carrying larger quantities of data than the older 2G technology, means we’re technically equipped to support more people on our network, doing lots of different things, more of the time.

So what does that mean when it comes to speed? Well, you’ll know from using your own phone that the stronger your signal, the faster and more reliable your mobile connection will be. That bit’s easy.

But it’s not always the quality of the network in your area that dictates the speeds you might see, there are a number of other factors to consider.

Speed is also dependent on how many people are using the network near you – it’s like a motorway. The speed limit might be 70mph, but you mightn’t be able to reach that top speed if the traffic is heavy.

The type of phone that you have is very important too. If you’ve got an old or basic phone you might only be able to expect speeds of up to 2Mbps (which will download a 4Mb music track in less than 20 seconds) even though the network in your area might be capable of much more.

In most locations across the country 21Mbps technology is available with a maximum achievable speed per customer of 16Mbps. That means that overall, due to real life conditions such as obstacles that get in the way like buildings and trees, and with other people using the network in the same area, you can typically expect speeds between 1-4Mbps on Three.

The main thing to note is that the speed of our network will always depend on the conditions in your specific area, so there is no one-size-fits-all answer. But as we constantly invest in improvements, and ready ourselves for the planned spectrum auction later this year, we’re confident that our customers will get a faster internet experience more often and in more places.

If you have a query about the network in your area or would like to know how to get faster download speeds, you can use our tips to improve your phone signal, or check the coverage in your area using our coverage checker.

Also, don’t forget that our @ThreeUKSupport Twitter team is always here to help with any of your queries.

Speed and coverage with Three.

I can’t quite believe how quickly time flies! It feels like only last week that we were anticipating 2011 and all it had store. And now it’s December. That went quick!

But before we head off for a well deserved break, we wanted to say a huge thanks to all of you for your support this year.

It’s been a busy and exciting 12-months here at Three. We’ve launched scores of smartphones – from Apple’s fastest-ever selling iPhone, to Nokia’s first ever Windows Phone, and everything in between.

We’ve brought all-you-can-eat data to tens of thousands more contract customers via our new add-on – and opened it up to PAYG customers too. Once again we’ve challenged, changed and led the industry with our innovative offers.

Network-wise, we’ve started the roll-out of HSPA+ to bring faster mobile internet access to the UK and we’re committed to continuing to develop and install new technology whenever we can. As such we’ll be cracking on with our deployment of the HSPA+ 42.2Mbps technical standard next year too.

Next year, though, the big challenge for Three and indeed the whole industry, is to ensure that the long-awaited Spectrum auction goes ahead. This additional Spectrum will be crucial in bringing next generation technology, such as LTE, to British consumers while at the same time improving network coverage across the whole of the UK.

When it comes to social media, our team have done their very best to answer your questions and take on board your feedback wherever we can. We value all your contributions (good and bad), and we really do appreciate the effort many of you go to to tell us what you think, answer our polls and enter our competitions. We hope this comes across in our day-to-day dealings with you.

As it’s Christmas, the team will be taking a short break from the blog, Facebook and @ThreeUK on Twitter, so it may be a little quieter on here than usual.

If you need help, @ThreeUKSupport will be up and running as normal apart from Monday 26^th December and Monday 2^nd January. And of course, our call centre is fully staffed and open for business as usual.

We’ll be back in our usual routine on Tuesday 3^rd January. So until then, have a very merry Christmas and we look forward to hearing from you again in the New Year.

Merry Christmas from everyone at Three.

A while back we gave you an overview of everything 4G; we touched on High Speed Packet Access Plus (HSPA+) as well as, LG and LTE. As we continue to roll out our HSPA+ network we’re seeing more and more questions from you guys so we thought we’d let you know exactly what it means for you and where we’re currently at with the roll out.

As many of you may know, HSPA+ is the next evolution of 3G technology; it’s designed to carry large amounts of information at higher speeds, so in a nutshell, it means faster access to the mobile internet for our customers. By the end of the year we aim to have rolled HSPA+ out on the majority of our 3G network, we aim to fully complete the roll out early next year. Those of you that are using one of our latest Mobile Broadband products or a Samsung Galaxy SII may have already experienced HSPA+, these devices come fitted with a chipset that allows them to use HSPA+ technologies.

Once you’re online, HSPA+ makes browsing, uploading and downloading smoother and faster too. You’ll find huge improvements in viewing photos, downloading attachments and watching online videos.

When it’s fully rolled out on our network we’ll be able to let you know more details. We’re  the UK’s fastest growing mobile network and we were designed for the internet, so we’re really excited to be embarking on this journey. Next stop: LTE trials! I’ll give you an update on that one as soon as I can.

The future of our network.

You know that feeling when your cupboards are full to bursting? You’ve got piles of clothes, coats, scarves, slightly-too-small trousers you bought in the sales, old cardigans you haven’t worn since Christmas ten years ago and the most amazing winter boots – but can’t for the life of you find them?

That’s exactly how we felt about our old website. We had thousands of pages  – some of which we hadn’t touched for years. Most of you used a tiny handful of our main pages – just like pulling on the same comfy pair of jeans every day. And we had some really amazing products, deals and videos – but it was like we were trying to make it hard for people to find them.

It was time for a clearout. We started back in January, gathering opinions about what we needed to change. You told us our site was cluttered, confusing and hard to get around. There were too many options and you didn’t know where to click. And we agreed.

So we researched some more. It turned out that there were three main things you wanted to do on our site: research, buy and get help. And that’s how we landed on the best way of organising our site, using three simple areas: Discover, Store and Support.

Based on what you’d told us, we knew we desperately had to fix our online support section, so we started work on that first. We sorted out all our help content and got rid of anything that was out of date – you’ll find more on that here.

Then came the store. Our old store was great if you knew what you wanted. But nine times out of ten, you don’t. Our new store design has filters, so you can select all the features that matter to you – and just see the phones and devices that match.

And that’s not all. You can compare plans or phones. Use our plan picker to recommend the best plan for you. Browse our best deals for phones and Mobile Broadband. Our new checkout has a built-in coverage checker. And the layout’s much simpler, so it should feel less confusing.

But we wanted Three.co.uk to be more than just an online shop. We want it to help everyone get the most out of the mobile internet. From featured apps and info on the latest phones to stories, competitions and news from around the web, Discover is the place to go to explore all the great things you can do with your smartphone, dongle or tablet.

We tried some new site designs on for size, and asked you what you thought of them. We made search better. We created more detailed product pages. We tidied our sock drawer.

So that brings us to today. We hope you’ll agree that now we’re more ‘walk-in wardrobe’ than ‘bulging closet’ – and we’ve got you to thank. As always, the changes don’t stop there. Tell us what you think – we’re ready for round two!

Three.co.uk has changed.