I thought The Reg was through with using "squared the circle" to mean achieving something difficult. For the umpteenth time, it is a construction that has been proved to be impossible in principle. If someone claims to have squared the circle, they are in the same category as someone who claims to have a perpetual motion machine - in short, certifiable. Not someone you would ever want to do business with.

When did 3 kick off - 2001? So they've managed to launch a next generation mobile network and push their way into a very well established market and turn a profit inside 10 years? I'd call that pretty good going, to be honest.

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(please post this possible non-sequitur)

dec

As you noted, the name of 3's chairman is 'Ka-shing'. How could you not do the honorable thing, and crack a joke - especially in a finacially-oriented story? Some people have no respect for humor.... :P

Li Ka-shing did not become the richest man in HK and one of the richest in Asia by playing silly buggers with crappy products. Compare and contrast this with Alan "you're fired" Sugar and his "empire".

He also has the financial clout to push through his projects without resorting to/dependent on outside sources(and, therefore, control).

However, his second son is well known to have made millions.....out of billions, in the PCCW saga !!

I tried Three years ago and their network was terrible. I recently got a Three PAYG USB modem and have been pretty impressed with their coverage and the speed I get on the network. Better still, in the very few places where there's no Three coverage it roams onto Orange's 3G network - all for a tenner a month.

Compared to my o2 iPhone that seems to not work in a surprising number of places where Three / Orange have coverage, I'd say that Three have quietly built out a stonking network - in fact I'm even thinking about taking a proper contract for their mobile data service.

Credit where credit's due - Three seem to have sorted out their network problems.

I'm with 3 - on renewal I got an N73, 300mins, 150 texts, 25 MMS, 25 Video Mins, £5 to spend on downloads and 500mb on data - all for £17. No other operator can come close for value. good on em I say!

That by the end of the year, they will share masts with T-Mobile.

As for value, with T-Mo, I got an HTC Advantage (HSDPA, GPS, 5" screen, full qwerty keyboard, 3MP camera, USB host, WiFi, 8GB storage) £180 worth of credit (1800 texts/900 minutes) and 1GB transfer, for £120 the phone and £32 a month.

I suppose, if you half everything I got, you'd get somewhere close to AC's deal ;~)