The most recent example of a device, which embodies the revolutionary technology of mobile phone convergence, is that of the 3 mobile phone and its communications and content network. This innovative transformation of the mobile phone is a result of the capacity of the 3 phones, operating on the 3 Network, to utilise the three industries of telecommunications, media and information technology. This convergence makes 3 more than just a mobile phone experience. In that, with the employment of the three industries, the 3 content network allows the user to watch the latest news coverage, check out the footy scores, find a great restaurant, discover what’s happening in their area and more. Furthering this, the 3 mobile phone and its subsequent communications network allows the user to get their email on the go, make live video calls to their friends nationally as well as internationally, send a video message to a PC and more.
Oracle corporation Vice President of product development Christfort (2002) believes that 3 is the most advanced mobile network in the world. Christfort (2002) concurs with this when he says that “Hutchinson 3G is a wonderful technology. It is the highway system that will finally give us reliable access to the mobile frontier country of our new world�.
Apart from being Australia’s first true third generation (3G) mobile service, 3 is majority owned by Hutchinson Telecoms, a subsidiary of Hutchinson Whampoa Limited (3 Hutchinson Australia, 2004). Hutchinson Whampoa is a global leader in the introduction of telecommunications services worldwide. Its global reach is evidenced in its availability to service such countries as Austria, Denmark, Italy, Sweden, the UK and Hong Kong.
3 have marketed their products and services as experiences. These ideals are depicted as elitist, yet are openly exposed as available. The subtext of this lies in their slogan “Be one of the others�. This connotes that a 3 phone allows the user to partake in a privileged society. It is portrayed that as a result of this product, users in this clandestine club are “in the know�, are connected on the go, can have a blast and get their social lives sorted. The uniqueness of Hutchinson’s 3 mobile phone and the experiences and status that it offers is a derivative of the innovation of convergence in mobile phones. This is because it can change the users behaviour and lifestyle pattern. This case study correlates with Geser (2004)who believes that the new mobile phone empowers people to engage in various communications and activities, while at the same time being free from the constraints of physical proximity and spatial immobility.
This new media technology as a product of convergence has revolutionized the handset as a multi-function portable home office. Allowing the operator to download the latest financial review (media), send and receive emails (information technology) and make a standard or video conference call (telecommunications), the 3 mobile phone breaks free from past traditional boundaries of the user being chained to a computer or a desk.
Back to Mobile Phone Convergence
Donna Locke 23:51, 28 Oct 2004 (EST)
