ThreePay 'A Dead Duck'

[3GScottishUser]

What has happened to ThreePay. Trumpeted as a trailblazer pre-pay product last year it appears to have withered and is on its last legs.

1000's who bought into the ThreePay deal with cheap deals on NEC handsets have now discarded them. (How many e313's, e228's and e616's do you see now?).

The inflexibility of the time limited top-up's appear to have been the problem. Fine for those who are heavy users but useless for light users who were the most likely to be attarcted by the cheap high spec handsets that just about every major store prominently had on display until just before Christmas last year.

Better bundles from 02 and cheaper deals from news entrants like EasyMobile and Fresh look better value and utilise reliable GSM networks.

3 UK appear to have put pre-pay on the back burner. This will hit their aquisition strategy hard as pre-pay still accounts for over 60% of the UK consumer market.

Is ThreePay a dead duck or can it be revived? Vote in the poll above and let us know what you think.

[Ben]

I'm not sure what I think about Threepay... is it really that dead?

The Motorola C975 is £64.95 on the Argos site. There are more basic Nokia's on Virgin for example for less than this, but I still think the 'advanced' features 3/the C975 offer must be appealing to customers. That said, there's no sign of this or any Threepay phone in the Mobile Today top-20 prepay for the end of April!

If Three think they can sell in the current prepay market without the virtual giveaway that was last year I think they are mistaken. I'm sure a load of cheapo NEC's must be just around the corner!

[Jon3G]

It appeals to the mass market of cheap callers, the only thing that would boost its reputation would be to remove top up requirement

[3GScottishUser]

Doubt if Hutchison have the stomach to throw more investment after pre-pay customers. The drop-off in customers who got cheap NEC's will have more than wiped out any prospect of any return from the ThreePay project.

I suspect ThreePay has done what it set out to do. Improve brand awareness, rapidly increase user base and introduce customers to 3G product. Sadly out of those three only the second has really been achieved and that seems to have been both temporary and costly.

[Ben]

Pre-pay is a huge chunk of the mobile market - they wont have a choice but to continue investing in it. I daresay the efforts to lock down handsets will continue heavily, though. As far as I am aware, there is no evidence at this time that suggests Three's Threepay userbase is receeding.

I'd very much like to see SIM-Only availability, but I don't think there are enough 3G handsets available for that to really be an option.

I don't think Threepay is 'A Dead Duck' yet.

Judging by the amount of 3pay phones my kids and their friends all seem to have I would say 3pay is alive and kicking. It seems like they like the fairly high spec features like the music player, video/still camera and the things they can put on the phones. Most kids like to text a lot and for them, I dont think the 30 day rule on usage bothers them one little bit. One the other hand, the parents who are topping up the credit now thats another matter entirely!

[chaslam]

I dont think it is dead, its just a quite time.

[3GScottishUser]

Wish I had £5 for every one of the teens I know who have ditched ThreePay. I get to meet hundreds in my line of work and its quite obvious what they value.... Samsung D500's and Motorola V3's currently!

[chaslam]

Yes I am a teengage and alot of people I know have ditched there threepay phone. Havin siad that alot have got theirs and are currently using them. Also a few have them on contract.

[Hands0n]

My kid and her peers are mostly on Threepay handsets - the E338 mostly with the LG U81xx as a follow up. She does not know anyone who still uses the 616v or its forerunner. No Motos either (she thinks my A835 is "quaint").

Quite a few LGs on contract also - although the overall happiness rating with the handset varies from so-so to completely dismal. The few I've laid hands on have early versions of the firmware but the tighwads wont spend a few quid to have them upgraded!

Interestingly - none of them have bothered unlocking and going back to O2 (the old fave round here with its 300 free texts). They seem to like the content on Three - perhaps I'm too old to see why anymore!!

[Bleubean]

hmm i dont think ThreePay is dead, from my view. I still no vasts amount of people at work who are on ThreePay along with a number of my sisters friends (shes 14). I think it is simply the fact Three have changed who they are targetting for the time being! Rather than chasing the prepay market, they appear to have all their weapons trained on the post pay market!

I daresay we havent heard the last of ThreePay. Whether this means it will return to the forefront the next time Three need a new customer base is anyones guess? Perhaps ThreePay will return but in a different guise?

We shall see!

[Hands0n]

Surely the high street dealers are the answer to Threepay's success or otherwise? The kids won't go to the bother of buying on-line direct from Three. But it looks like the dealers in my area [at least] are actively demoting Threepay and pressing on with contract deals all over the place. Is this Three-led? Or the dealers own initiative? Puzzling.

And so, while the kids want PAYG someone else will fill the vacuum left by Three.