Manchester, 2nd September 2010: The Three Mobile Broadband Bus will be at The Trafford Centre, with special guest Pollyanna Woodward from Channel Five’s The Gadget Show on board to demonstrate the benefits of mobile internet.
Although Manchester is one of the UK’s most connected cities, almost a quarter of people living there still do not have a broadband Internet connection. Aside from London, Manchester is the only region in the UK to have more people connected to the Internet than the UK average of 26%. Even so Three, alongside the Race Online team, are campaigning for every household in the UK to have a broadband connection by 2012.
As such, Pollyanna and Three will be offering advice on smartphone use and giving people the chance to get online with the latest Three phones and mobile broadband products.
The visit to Manchester comes as Three announces the completion of a £3.5m network investment programme across the city, which has seen improved 3G reception and connection speeds - making it easy for residents to access mobile broadband wherever they are.
Pollyanna Woodward said: “Three has really shaken up the mobile market. As the UK’s biggest 3G network, it allows more people to get connected in more places and with a faster mobile internet connection. Three’s network investment in Manchester gives locals better coverage and a better experience, which we’ll demonstrate today.”
Three is the first mobile operator to pledge its support to the government-led Race Online 2012 scheme, with a pledge to get 100,000 people connected to the internet for the first time by 2012.
“We believe it is a misconception that everyone is online and knows how to make the most of being connected to the internet” said Charlotte Blanchard director of products and services at Three.
“More than 10 million Britons - the size of Britain’s five largest cities – have never been online before. Three is committed to giving people a network they can depend on and access packages that makes the internet affordable for anyone. We believe everyone should be able to get online wherever they are, that's why we're investing in the biggest 3G network in the UK.”
Three's investment in Manchester has given the area an 80 per cent growth in network sites - from 73 sites to 131.
Three is the UK’s number one mobile broadband provider.[i]
To find out more, visit the Three Mobile Broadband Bus in:
The Trafford Centre: The Trafford Centre, Manchester, M17 8AA
Between 10 – 5pm on Thursday 2nd September 2010.
The Three Mobile Broadband Bus will be visiting London and Birmingham in its next stops across the UK.
i. YouGov Dongle Tracker Report
Three is a communications company focused on bringing the benefits of the internet to mobile communications. We offer attractive pricing and give our customers the widest choice of ways to stay connected. To do this we’ve built an award-winning high-speed mobile broadband network. Three UK is a member of the HWL group of companies, which include 3G operations in Austria, Denmark, Hong Kong, Ireland, Italy, Macau and Sweden.
- Three launched the UK's first 3G high-speed mobile network offering national coverage for calls and texts, and has more than 97.5% population coverage for mobile internet services.
- Three is the fastest growing network in the UK.
- Three is rated the Number 1 network for Smartphones in the most recent YouGov Smartphone Survey, took first place in 5 out of 10 categories in the most recent YouGov 3G Tablet Survey, and took top spot for 6 out of the 7 data categories in the most recent YouGov iPhone survey. Three is also came first in the most recent uSwitch Best Network awards. For more info visit www.three.co.uk/awards