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Hutchison Telecoms Australia launched the first 3G mobile network in Australia on the 15th of April 2003 covering Sydney and Melbourne. Brisbane, Adelaide and Perth followed in July 2003. Being interested in 3G for a while and being a small shareholder in Hutchison Telecoms, I've decided to try out their services. The service called "3" allows users to communicate via Video as well as ordinary Voice. They also offer 3 Services which is an online content service offering News, Sport, Weather, Ringtones, Games, etc ... Initially they had 4 available handsets (although only two were
available at the launch and only one of them supported Video calls). The NEC e606 (specs -
handset no longer available), the NEC e808N (specs - handset no longer
available) and the Motorola A830 (specs - handset no longer available).
Their 4th handset, the Motorola A920 (specs) became available in September 2003. The 2 handsets they had available at the launch were the NEC e606 and the Motorola A830 and since the latter didn't offer Video calling, I decided on the NEC e606. Given the lack of information on this service and handset (as it
is fairly new), I thought of setting up these pages to share with others my experiences with this service along with hints and tips.
I'll be gradually adding and updating the information on "3" and the NEC e606 and other handsets on these pages. Apart from owning a small number of shares in Hutchison, I have no connection with Hutchison and the comments on this site are of my own personal experience and of those who wish to share their experiences.
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I had a Nokia 7110 which I was very happy with but it was getting a bit old and didn't mind exploring
the multimedia phones and given that "3" is the only phone company to offer Video calls, I didn't really have many
choices.
The pricing of the phone was attractive. At $768 up front and no contract, it is very comparable to any other good
multimedia phone out there. They also offered a $300 rebate towards your next mobile.
Additionally "3" don't have plans
as such, they have a flat rate of 15c per 30 seconds (for voice) anytime with a cap of $99 on voice calls. Video calls are at 50c
per 30 seconds with $32 worth free every month (that's just about half an hour worth). (how
pricing works from 3)
I've noticed that they are now discounting there handsets by as much as 50%. It appears that initial
intake wasn't as strong as they were hoping for.
Note that this offer is no longer available to new customers. Hutchison
replaced it with 3
for All