SMARTPHONES DRIVE HUGE NEW YEAR’S EVE DATA SURGE
The amount of data Three’s smartphone customers used on New Year’s Eve leapt from 14 terabytes (TBs) in 2010 to a massive 80TBs in 2011.
To put it in perspective, it’s the equivalent of almost 21m MP3 tracks, or roughly 118,000 DVD movies, downloaded onto smartphones in the UK in just 24-hours.
The trend continued through 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.
Three expects smartphone adoption among customers to reach almost 100% this year, as more and more people realise their capabilities.
Traditional mobile traffic grew too, but this growth was hugely outstripped by data. SMS levels grew from 36m on New Year’s Eve 2010, to 46m this year, while calls went from 19m last year to 21m.
Three’s Marketing Director Thomas Malleschitz, said: “It’s a phenomenal amount of growth and shows just how much smartphones are changing the way our customers communicate. This kind of demand vindicates Three’s focus on building a network designed for the internet.
“It also shows just how important data bundles are becoming – and of course the value of plans which offer genuinely All-you-can-eat handset data allowances.”
Notes to Editors
Contact information.
| Name | Three Corporate PR Team |
| Phone | 020 3725 2339 |
| three@mww.com |
About Three
Three is a communications company. We are focused on challenging the industry to make mobile better for everyone.
We want to give customers a quality mobile experience and address the industry issues that frustrate them.
We were the first UK network to introduce all-you-can-eat data and offer 4G at no extra cost. We let customers roam abroad with their domestic bundle for no extra charge and do not charge for calling 0800 numbers.
We continue to look at ways of improving the experience we offer our customers.
Three carries over 45% of the UK’s mobile data. Our 3G network covers 98% of the UK population.
We launched 4G in 2014 and plan to have 50 cities and 200 towns covered by 4G by December 2014. By the end of 2015 98% of the population will be able to access 4G through a combination of new sites and deploying new spectrum.
Three is a member of the HWL group of companies, with investments in mobile operations in Australia, Austria, Denmark, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Ireland, Italy, Macau, Sri Lanka, Sweden and Vietnam.
Three employs over 4,400 people across its offices in Maidenhead, Glasgow and Reading and its 345 retail stores.
For more information visit www.three.co.uk.
