On a symbolic date, 03-03-2003, the first phone call is made on 3, the UMTS network of Hutchison in the United Kingdom. The UK's first mainland third generation mobile network is officially opening for business, enabling callers to see each other and send video's via their phones. Retailers will begin to take orders for 3G phones as from today, while Hutchison has been taking pre-orders for several weeks. Three 3G handsets are available in the UK, made by NEC and Motorola against a price of EUR 580. A video call will cost EUR 0.72 a minute. For several months already, Hutchison advertised with possible uses of the 3G network, as video conferencing and clips from football matches, for some months already. Hutchison earlier delayed the commercial introduction of UMTS in the United Kingdom because of a shortage of UMTS handsets. BBC News reports that Trade and Industry Secretary Patricia Hewitt made the UK's first public mobile video call over 3's new service to Stephen Timms, the e-Commerce Minister.
