This morning we launched a new plan. It’s called The One Plan and it’s available on all of our phones. It’s simple, it’s big and it has enough minutes, texts and data for almost everyone.

Mobile phone price plans don’t normally make the news, but I wanted to share with you some of the thinking behind The One and why it represents such a milestone for us.

The future of the UK mobile market is all about data and that’s what we were designed to do. We were ahead of our time with the first 3G network, but with the huge growth in internet and smartphones we’re now coming into our own. Our innovative tie-in with T-Mobile has allowed our 3G network to grow from around 8,000 sites in 2008 to what will be more than 12,000 by the end of this year. That takes us up to 98% 3G population coverage. We’re also continuing to invest heavily in the way data is carried across our network – giving you faster speeds and more capacity.

That doesn’t mean we should forget about voice and text. The success of the Terminate the Rate campaign gives us the ability to price voice services in line with actual costs – and that will mean that you guys, our customers, will no longer need to pay for us to subsidise the other operators with Mobile Termination Rates.

Though Ofcom’s proposed changes might not come into play for many months, we don’t want you to have to wait. We fought for changes to the marketplace and promised a revolutionary new type of contract plan if MTRs came down.

We want to start passing on the benefits of that change now, which is why we’re delivering on our promise early with The One Plan:

• From £25 per month (depends on the phone you choose)
• 2,000 any network minutes
• 5,000 Three-to-Three minutes
• 5,000 texts
• 1GB internet

We’ve squeezed as much as we can into The One Plan, so how and when you use your phone is one less thing for you to worry about. With this plan, you can talk for over 24 hours and send 1,000 texts a week, watch 30 minutes of YouTube a day or check Facebook over 65,000 times a month.

You’ve given us lots of feedback about our use of the word ‘unlimited’. We’ve heard your message loud and clear: Don’t say it unless you mean it. So we’re making the small print big.

From the beginning of July, we’re going to stop using the word unlimited. We won’t be reducing how much customers get (many of you will have got used to looking for the * and the fair use policy) – we’re just making it simpler to understand.

In fact, from today, at a time when other networks are reducing data for their customers, we’re giving you more. As standard, all of our newer tariffs have had an allowance of 500MB (hidden underneath the ‘unlimited’ umbrella). For those of you on Internet Texter 500 or 900, or Internet Talker 900 or 1200, (that was over two thirds of you judging by our June figures) you’ll now get 1GB of data every month. And of course, for an extra fiver a month, any of our customers can buy themselves an extra 2GB.

We’ll be making this change from today if you’re new to Three and signing up now. If you’re already with us, we’ll be upping your allowance over the next couple of months. I really wanted to do this sooner, but this is a big system change and it’s going to take some time to implement. You’ll be getting a text from us soon to explain the details.

So in summary, today’s pretty big. We’ve announced what we see as the simplest, most competitive tariff ever offered in the UK, we’ve taken a stand against ‘unlimited’ and misleading jargon, and for our biggest users we’re doubling your internet allowance, when elsewhere it would be under pressure. The mobile market is facing tough times, but we’re committed to listening to your feedback and doing the right thing by offering the best value possible in the most transparent way.