3 changes mobile internet for ever with flat-rate service

[Bob Crabtree]

Mobile phone operator 3 is launching in the UK next month a flat-rate mobile-internet service - X-Series - that's likely to revolutionise mobile broadband by making its use far more affordable and far more like that of PC broadband.

With X-Series it will be possible to send texts for free using Skype, MSN Messenger or Yahoo! Messenger - without getting on the wrong side of your mobile phone company - and, similarly, to make and take unlimited free Skype voice calls. Web browsing and searching will also be unlimited.

X-Series will even let you use the Orb service to access on a mobile any of the media stored on your PC or - if you have Sling Media's hardware at home - watch TV being streamed over the net by a Slingbox to your phone from a satellite or terrestrial set-top box or a personal video recorder.

Find out more in this HEXUS.lifestyle.headline - and tell us here whether or not you share our enthusiasm about the possibilities opened up by X-Series.

[tickedon]

I was about to go with T-mobile for their 'web n walk' offering - doesn't allow IM or VOIP, but, it does allow 'unlimited' (2gb fair use I think) browsing and email on the move for £7.50. I guess I'll be holding off for a month to see how 3's pricing shapes up in comparison - especially with the slingbox integration.

[rjpearce]

I have T-Mobile's web n walk package its actually pretty good. I've been using IM for a month now without any problems. They dont say you cannot use IM just the following: "they are not to be used for other activities such as (but not limited to): modem access for computers, internet based video/audio streaming services, peer to peer file sharing, internet based video download and internet based telephony". That pretty much rules skype out, but I'm pretty sure most of the stuff can avoided using some clever SSL tunelling/proxying. The data rates are also pretty good, especially on 3G and for £7.50/month its pretty good value.

[chrestomanci]

I have T-Mobile's web n walk package its actually pretty good. I've been using IM for a month now without any problems. They dont say you cannot use IM just the following: "they are not to be used for other activities such as (but not limited to): modem access for computers, internet based video/audio streaming services, peer to peer file sharing, internet based video download and internet based telephony". That pretty much rules skype out, but I'm pretty sure most of the stuff can avoided using some clever SSL tunelling/proxying. The data rates are also pretty good, especially on 3G and for £7.50/month its pretty good value.

Yes I thought of tunneling stuff through SSH when I heard about the Web 'n walk package.

I doubt you would be able to perswade Skype to use an SSH tunnel, but you should be OK with a SIP/H263 system such as tesco VoIP. You would of course need a hand SSH server to tunnel to, such as a linux box on the end of a home broadband connection.

T-Mobile would still be able to block it though, as though they won't be able to see what is being transferd, they will know it is SSH, (not plain old https) so they can just add that to the list of banned services.