“Entire strategy” rests on the network
Three UK and ZTE have jointly launched the Racer, an Android-based handset that will be available to pre-pay customers for £100.
The device will be marketed as an entry level mass market mobile internet device, but also one that offers the Android experience – including the Marketplace and Google apps and services.
David Kerrigan, Head of Internet Services at 3 UK, said, “We want to bring the 3G mobile internet experience to as many customers as we can. Pricing has been a barrier to that, by bringing the price down to £100 then that is the next step to the mass market.”
For 3, having an Android based handset at this level means that he can run services in a unified way across as many handsets as possible. The operator has to date targeted this segment with the Inq phones, which up to now have been based on Brew. O2 launched the HTC Smart earlier this year – a phone that was also based on Brew but also carried HTC’s Sense UI.
So how mass market is mass market? Well, ZTE’s Director of Mobile Device Operations, Wu Sa, told Mobile Europe that the handset vendor expects to ship “tens of thousands” of the devices this year.
So will 3 have the network in place to support the mass mobile internet market?
Those who follow these things will be interested in a couple of remarks from Kerrigan at the event. The first is that 3 bases its “entire strategy” on having the best 3G network in the UK. The operator plans to increase its number of sites from 11,570 to 15,949 by 201, he said. 3’s focus on its network has led to it having a live tracker on its intranet, telling employees whenever a new site comes on line.
“We’re all supposed to be able to talk knowledgably about the network,” he said, “even though I’m from sales and marketing,” he added.