 | |
| Three UK | |
| Company type | Limited company |
| Industry | Telecommunications |
| Founded | 3 March 2003; 22 years ago (2003-03-03) |
| Founder | Hutchison Whampoa |
| Headquarters | Reading, England[1][failed verification] |
Number of locations | 293 stores |
Area served | United Kingdom |
Key people | Robert Finnegan (CEO) |
| Products | |
| Brands | SMARTY |
| Services | Broadband and Mobile |
| Revenue |  £2,590 million(FY 2023)[2] |
Number of employees | 4,800[3] |
| Parent | VodafoneThree |
| Website | www |
Hutchison 3G UK Limited, trading asThree UK, is a Britishtelecommunications company based inReading, England. It is a wholly owned subsidiary ofVodafoneThree, a joint venture betweenVodafone (51%) andCK Hutchison Holdings (49%).[4][5] It is the smallest of the fourmobile network operators in the United Kingdom, with about 10.9 million subscribers as of November 2024[update], behind fellow VodafoneThree subsidiaryVodafone UK.[6]
The company was launched on 3 March 2003 as the UK's first commercial 100%3G network. It provides4G and5G services through its own network infrastructure. In June 2023, it was proposed that Three would merge withVodafone UK. The merger was approved by theCompetition and Markets Authority in December 2024 and completed in June 2025.
The Three mobile service was launched in the UK on 3 March 2003,[7] with handsets going on sale later that year. Three was the UK's first commercialvideo mobile (3G) network.[8]
Three was the first network to meet its regulatory requirement of 80% population coverage in the UK, meeting this by 9 December 2004.[9]
Three's first retail shops, called 3Store, opened at the same time as the network launched, onOxford Street andKensington High Street, both in London, and at theBirmingham Mailbox. Three also sold handsets, devices and contracts through independent and online retailers at the time. In 2005, Three expanded, and stores opened in larger shopping centres throughout the UK.[10] On 24 October 2006, Three announced that it had purchased 95 high street shops fromO2 andThe Link.[11]
Three launched SeeMeTV, allowing its customers to submit their own video content that other subscribers could watch. Users would make a smallmicropayment (the price decided by the video's creator) to watch these videos. The user who created the videos would get paid 10% of the amount of money paid by other users to watch the video. Users were paid once they had accrued £10.[12]
In 2010, Three became the fourth network in the UK to launch theiPhone 4 after O2, Orange and Vodafone.[13]
In July 2014, Three introduced the 3 inTouch app,[14] allowing customers to place calls through aWi-Fi connection. Three customers can also access the VirginWi-Fi network implemented at over 130London Underground stations.[15]
On 24 March 2015, Three's parent company Hutchison Whampoa announced it intended to acquire the UK operations of rival mobile networkO2 for £10.25 billion, subject to regulatory approval.[16] On 11 May 2016, EU commission blocked the deal on the grounds that it would affect competition in the UK market.[17][18]
In November 2016, three men were arrested after a data breach at the Three mobile network allowed fraudsters to access personal data and steal phones. The company said that while names and addresses were accessed, some financial information might be compromised. Fraudsters were understood to have used authorised login information to order upgraded phones, including iPhone and Samsung handsets, to be sent to customers before intercepting them. Three, which had 9 million customers, said it believed around 400 phones had been stolen.[19]
In early 2020, CEO of Three UK,Dave Dyson, resigned after nine years at the helm. He was replaced byThree Ireland's CEO, Robert Finnegan, who now manages both companies.[20]
Three was the main shirt sponsor ofPremier League clubChelsea since the2020–21 season.[21][22] On 10 March 2022 Three announced it was ending its sponsorship deal with Chelsea immediately, and asked the club to remove the company's logo from its kits.[23]
In order to provide coverage parity with other networks in the UK, Three maintained for a time anational roaming agreement with an established2G network operator.O2[24] operated this service for Three customers at first, untilOrange was selected as the new national roaming partner from May 2006.[24]
In the early period of the3G network, Orange 2G (acquired byEE in 2010)[25][26] was adopted in areas as a fallback where 3G wasn't available. In 2010, this fallback coverage began to be removed, meaning older phones that supported only 2G lost access to the Three network.[27] From 2013, Three no longer provided a significant 2G fallback for most of the United Kingdom.
In December 2007,T-Mobile and Three launched a 50:50 joint venture calledMobile Broadband Network Limited (MBNL) which aimed to combine both of their 3G networks and provide almost-complete 3G population coverage by the end of 2008.[28] In November 2010, MBNL announced that the network had reached a total of 12,000 combined sites.[29]
In 2022, Three announced its intention to decommission its 3G network by the end of 2024.[30] A study in October 2024 found that Three's decision to switch off its 3G network improved overall data speeds but reduced network coverage in some areas.[31]
Three began a limited rollout of4G LTE services in December 2013 in London,Birmingham,Manchester andReading,[32] expanding to over a further 450 locations by the end of 2014.[33][34] In August 2012, Three was given permission to use part of the 1,800 MHz spectrum used byEE's 4G network.[35] In February 2013, Ofcom announced that Three had been awarded 2 x 5 MHz (10 MHz) of 800 MHz to use for 4G.[36] Three planned to launch 4G in the second quarter of 2013 but it delayed the rollout until Q4, saying that it wanted to analyse the performance of other networks' 4G coverage first.[37] The network provides LTE andDC-HSDPA service as a standard feature to all its subscribers using "Ultrafast" to describe both technologies, making it (at the time) the cheapest price for 4G and the only unlimited 4G in the UK.[38][39] In April 2015, Three announced thatVoLTE would be rolled out along with 800 MHz spectrum from September.[40]
In November 2018, Three UK announced a £2 billion investment programme to support the rollout of5G across its network.[41] This included the acquisition of spectrum for 5G by buying Relish Broadband[42] to gain 40Mhz of spectrum across the 3.4GHz, 3.6GHz and 3.9GHz bands. Furthermore, it involved the creation of adark fibre network to connect 20 newdata centres, alongside deployingcarrier aggregation across 2,500 sites, improving performance on 4G.
Until 2009, Three subscribers in the UK, Ireland, Austria, Italy, Denmark, Sweden, Hong Kong and Australia could use their service on Three networks around the world for no extra charge with "3 Like Home".[43] The service was relaunched on 30 August 2013 as "Feel At Home" for UK customers visiting Australia, Austria, Denmark, Hong Kong, Ireland, Italy and Sweden, where calls, texts and data could be consumed without roaming charges; meaning they cost the same as for communication within the UK. Additional countries were subsequently added to "Feel At Home" including Finland, France, Indonesia, Israel, Macau, New Zealand, Norway, Spain, Sri Lanka, Switzerland and the United States.[44] The service was expanded to a further 24 European countries in September 2016.[45] Three changed the name of its roaming proposition from "Feel at Home" to "Go Roam", which now covers 59 countries and territories since 2017. Three advertises that the service covers "71 destinations" because it counts several countries more than once. For example, Three counts "Ireland" and "Republic of Ireland" as two destinations, countsÅland in addition to Finland, counts two parts of Spain in addition to Spain, counts two parts of Portugal in addition to Portugal, and counts eight parts of France in addition to France.[46] "Go Roam" only covers roaming, and does not include non-roaming services such as international calls made from the UK.
Three UK changed its terms and conditions in September 2021. Customers acquiring new contracts or updates after that date will no longer have "Go Roam" free of charge. This benefit costs £2 per day for roaming in EU countries (except Ireland) and £5 per day when roaming outside the EU.[47][48]
| Frequency | Band | Protocol | Class |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2,100 MHz | B1 n1 | LTE/LTE Advanced 5G NR | 4G/4G+ 5G |
| 1,800 MHz | B3 | LTE/LTE Advanced | 4G/4G+ |
| 800 MHz | B20 | LTE/LTE Advanced | 4G/4G+ |
| 700 MHz | B28 n28 | LTE/LTE Advanced 5G NR | 4G/4G+ 5G |
| 1,500 MHz | B32 | LTE Advanced[49] | 4G+ |
| 3,700 MHz | n77 | 5G NR | 5G (unused)[50] |
| 3,500 MHz | n78 | 5G NR | 5G |
The Three network is used by a number ofmobile virtual network operators (MVNOs).
In May 2015,Dixons Carphone launched itsiD Mobile network.[51]
In August 2017, Three UK launched itsSMARTY network.[52]
In June 2018, Three UK and its sister company,Superdrug, launched itsSuperdrug Mobile network.[53]
In August 2017, Three launched ano frills SIM-only brand calledSMARTY to compete againstO2'sgiffgaff[54] andVodafone'sVOXI.
Unlike Three, which offers telephone support, SMARTY instead opted to only offer live chat, community forums and help pages; the live chat service is provided by Three UK customer support teams.[55] Instead of fixing customers into a contract, SMARTY offers a rolling 30-day contract, allowing customers to cancel at any time. They offer free EU roaming and MMS.[56] Furthermore, SMARTY does not complete credit checks,[57] making it an option for people with a poorcredit score. Unlike Three,eSIM is not supported on SMARTY.[58]
From 2019 to 2024, SMARTY won a number of Best PAYG Network and Best Value SIM Only awards from comparison serviceuSwitch.[59][60][61][62][63]
In November 2025, the Competition Appeal Tribunal (CAT) approved a class action claim in the UK from consumer rights expert Justin Gutmann to take Three and other mobile network operators to trial. The claim alleges that long standing customers were charged for their mobile phones beyond their contractual terms. Gutmann is representing 10.9 million contracts that were affected between 1 October 2015 and 31 March 2025. If successful, it could see Three and other operators, pay over £1.1 billion in damages, roughly equating to £104 per contract. Mobile networks, including Three, deny any wrongdoing.[64][65]
In 2010, Three was voted Best Network for Mobile Broadband in a YouGov survey for the second year in a row.[66]
In 2018, Three was awarded Best Network for Roaming and Most Popular Mobile Network at the uSwitch Broadband and Mobile Awards 2018.[67]
In 2019, Three was awarded Best Network for Roaming at the uSwitch Broadband and Mobile Awards 2019.[68]
In 2020, Three was awarded Best Network for Roaming and Most Popular Mobile Network at the uSwitch Broadband and Mobile Awards 2020.[69]
From 2021 to 2024, Three has won four of the six-monthly Speedtest Award for the Fastest 5G Mobile Network.[70][71][72][73]
In 2021, Three was awarded Best Network for Data, Best Network for Roaming, Best SIM Only Network, and Most Popular Mobile Network at the uSwitch Broadband and Mobile Awards.[74]
In 2023, Three was awarded Best Network for Business at the Mobile Industry Awards.[75]
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