page_title: 3 (telecommunications)
section_title: United Kingdom
hierarchical_section_title: 3 (telecommunications) / Global operations / 3 Group Europe / United Kingdom
caption_attribution_description: English: 3 Store (Hutchison mobile phone shop) in Banbury, UK, photographed by Stratford490.
context_page_description: 3 or Three is a global brand name under which several UMTS-based mobile phone networks and broadband internet providers operate in Hong Kong, Macau, Austria, Denmark, Indonesia, Ireland, Italy, Sweden and the United Kingdom. The brand was founded in 2002 in Hong Kong. As of 2018, registered Three customers worldwide numbered over 130 million.
  All 3-branded network companies are wholly owned subsidiaries of CK Hutchison but the ownership structure varies. CK Hutchison Holdings owns direct majority interests of six networks through 3 Group Europe, including Austria, Denmark, Italy, Ireland, Sweden and the United Kingdom. Hutchison Telecommunications Hong Kong Holdings operates the networks in Hong Kong and Macau, while Hutchison Asia Telecom Group operates the network in Indonesia. All 3-branded networks provide 4G and 3G service; some also run 2G networks and some provide 4.5G service.
  Hutchison Whampoa no longer holds a 3G licence in Israel which was formerly operated under the brand Orange, and in Norway where an unused licence was previously held by 3 Scandinavia.
context_section_description: Three UK (officially Hutchison 3G UK Limited) launched as the UK's first commercial video mobile network on 3 March 2003 (03-03-03), the day that 3G services went live across the country, and handsets went on sale later that month. On 9 December 2004, Three announced that it was the first network to meet its regulatory requirement of 80% population coverage in the UK. 
  Three operates 3G, 4G and 5G services, and maintains a national roaming agreement with EE to provide 2G services where 3G is unavailable (until 2006, Three partnered with O2 for these services). 2G fallback coverage was largely dropped as 3G became ubiquitous.
  On 24 March 2015, Three announced its intention to acquire the UK operations of Spanish operator O2 (UK) for £10.25 billion but a year later, the EU commission blocked the takeover.
  Three's first retail stores (branded 3Store) opened at the same time as the network launched, in London's Oxford Street and High Street Kensington, and at the Birmingham Mailbox. Three's handsets and contracts are also sold by mobile telephony chains and independents throughout the UK, as well as online retailers. In 2005, an expansion of the 3Store portfolio saw stores opened in larger malls throughout the UK, such as the Bluewater shopping centre, and The Mall at Cribbs Causeway near Bristol. On 24 October 2006, Three announced that it had purchased 95 high street shops from O2 and The Link. Three's UK division is owned entirely by CK Hutchison Holdings.
caption: A 3 store in Banbury, England
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