The internet isn't going to go mobile while prepay users outnumber postpay by three or four to one, and adding data means a long call to an Indian call centre. So in a small but significant move, UK network 3 today said it's essentially opting its prepay users into a data plan, giving them a free data bundle to use.

If you don't use the data, you don't pay anything extra. But no call to Bangalore is required to activate the features, which include free Skype-to-Skype calls and Windows IM. 3 allows 150MB over three months, with an additional bundle for a fiver. It's available to all 3Pay customers right away.

In the world of tariffs, that's probably as big as T-Mobile's Web'n'Walk announcement and given the size of the prepay market, possibly bigger.

There's just one catch in the small print - you'll need to provide a registered debit/credit card. So sorry folks, no anonymous data in the UK. That would really foul up Jacqui's megadatabase. ®

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