16th Feburary - 3 UK announced a ground-breaking partnership with social networking gateway provider Intercasting which will allow users simple access to a raft of well-known online communities from their mobile handset. The partnership will enable 3 subscribers to quickly and easily access social networking sites including LiveJournal, Xanga, Vox and BlackPlanet, wherever they are, whenever they want.

The partnership will form part of 3’s ongoing commitment to give users the most innovative mobile media services. It promises to provide an intuitive interface which acts as a single point of access for a variety of social networking websites.

The two companies will work together to offer 3 UK subscribers access to their favourite online communities to allow them to interact with each other, share media and participate in groups and forums. These sites span a wide demographic of users from social networks such as Xanga to more focussed communities such as BlackPlanet.

Intercasting allows mobile networks to aggregate the complex process of providing social networking functionalities through its Anthem Social Networking Service Gateway (SNS-G). A media rich interface provides users with a functional, fast and straightforward experience, whilst the back-end handles technical integration, content management and transaction processing.

Rob Wells, Head of Mobile Broadband at 3UK said, “This is another step towards providing our customers with the best possible range of mobile broadband services. Using Intercasting’s unique technology our entire user-base can enjoy the best possible mobile social networking experience on a variety of well-known sites with a community base of millions.

“Through the Anthem social networking gateway users will get a social networking experience tailored for the data and media capabilities of their phones, helping to drive adoption and repeat usage over the 3 network. This further extends the world of mobile blogging, messaging and community interaction on 3.”

Sean Kane, Vice President at Intercasting said “3 is leading the way for mobile broadband services and as such is well-placed to provide mobile social networking to their user-base. By using our unique technology 3 will be able to offer their subscribers an easy-to-use and compelling experience.”


About 3
3 is a mobile media company delivering a convergence of communications, entertainment and information to customers on the move.

The three areas which form the core of its business are:
• Communications – including all forms of personal communications, voice and video calling; text, picture and video messaging; and mobile blogging
• Entertainment – including television, music audio and video, computer games, and media publishing
• Information services – including wireless web, access to the best of the internet and a range of news services

3 UK is a member of the HWL group of 3G companies, which include 3G operations in Australia, Austria, Denmark, Hong Kong, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Sweden and soon Norway.

Three facts about 3:
• 3, a mobile media company, launched the UK's first 3G network
• 3 has over 3.75 million customers in the UK and over 13.5 million worldwide (August 2006 figures)
• The 3 network offers national coverage for calls and texts, and over 89% population coverage for 3G services

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