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Three UK Prep 5G Trial as Mobile Data Use Rises to 7.6GB in H1 2018

Thursday, Aug 2nd, 2018 (11:20 am) - Score 9,996

Mobile operator Three UK has published their H1 2018 results, which among other things revealed that monthly Mobile Broadband (3G / 4G) data usage per customer grew by 10% during the first six months of the year to total 7.6GB (GigaBytes) and that’s compared with a rise of +7% for the whole of 2017.

By comparison the telecom regulator’s annual Connected Nations 2017 report found that the overall (all major networks) average volume of data consumed per subscriber was 1.9GB per month, which is up from 1.3GB in 2016 and 0.9GB in 2015. In other words, Three UK’s users have a higher level of data consumption than most operators, which is no doubt partly down to their low pricing and “all-you-can-eat” data options.

Overall the operator finished H1 2018 with a total of 10,133,000 active customers (6.83m contract and 3.3m prepaid) and they plan to launch their first trials of future ultrafast 5G mobile technology alongside Huawei within the next 6 months (they now have about 144MHz worth of 5G supporting spectrum frequency, thanks in no small part to Ofcom’s recent auction and their prior purchase of UK Broadband Ltd.).

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As part of that they also recently signed an agreement with SSE Enterprise Telecoms to unbundle more BT local telephone exchanges, which they hope will facilitate fibre optic connections of masts to datacentres (here).

Dave Dyson, CEO of Three UK, said:

“I am pleased to report further progress in H1 2018, even as we re-build the business for the future. Our financial performance was solid and builds on the strong foundations we reported at FY 17. I am proud of the continued improvements in customer experience and our lowest ever contract handset churn rate reflects a business that has a genuine focus on its customers.

Over the course of 2018, we will accelerate the rollout of our 5G network and the opportunity this brings to both our existing and prospective base of customers and partners. All the key components that are needed for a successful 5G service have been procured over the last few years and I am excited by the prospect of trialling 5G soon, working together with our new IT and Core network infrastructure.

We continue to collaborate with a variety of like-minded brands which will enable us to deliver a first-class experience to our customers. We are particularly pleased to have added Snapchat to our Go Binge offer, as well as launching Superdrug Mobile and our partnership with EasyJet.”

The operator delivered total H1 revenue of £1,186m (£1,161m in H1 2017) and over the same period EBITDA reached £364m (£341m in H1 2017). Meanwhile some 84% of their customer base is using 4G and 75% of data usage on their network also goes over 4G.

Aside from the £151.3m that Three UK spent on the recent 5G spectrum auction, the operator also said that they’d spent £125m during the first six months of 2018 on new network and system upgrades in order to prepare for 5G.

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Mark-Jackson
By Mark Jackson
Mark is a professional technology writer, IT consultant and computer engineer from Dorset (England), he also founded ISPreview in 1999 and enjoys analysing the latest telecoms and broadband developments. Find me on X (Twitter), Mastodon, Facebook, BlueSky, Threads.net and .
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