3 (company)

"Orange Australia" redirects here. For the city in Australia, see Orange, New South Wales.
This article is about the global telecommunications brand name. For other uses, see 3 (disambiguation).

Hutchison 3G Enterprises S.A.R.L.
  • 3 (Three)
  • Hutchison 3G (H3G)
Company typeSubsidiary
IndustryTelecommunications
Founded3 March 2003; 21 years ago (2003-03-03)[1]
FounderHutchison Whampoa
Headquarters
Luxembourg
Area served
Austria, Denmark, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Ireland, Italy, Macau, Sweden, United Kingdom
Key people
Canning Fok
ProductsMobile telephony, fixed telephony
ParentCK Hutchison Holdings
Subsidiaries
Websitethree.com

Hutchison 3G Enterprises S.A.R.L.,[2] trading as 3 (Three) and Hutchison 3G (acronym H3G), is the owner of several originally UMTS-based mobile phone networks and broadband Internet providers, which operate in Hong Kong, Macau, Austria, Denmark, Indonesia, Ireland, Italy, Sweden, and the United Kingdom.[3]

The brand was officially founded on 3 March 2003 in Hong Kong.[4][5] As of 2022, registered "Three" customers worldwide numbered over 110 million.[6]

All 3-branded network companies are wholly-owned subsidiaries of CK Hutchison Holdings (formerly Hutchison Whampoa) but the ownership structure varies. CK Hutchison Holdings owns direct majority interests of six networks through 3 Group Europe, including Austria, Denmark, Italy, Ireland, Sweden and the United Kingdom. Hutchison Telecommunications Hong Kong Holdings operates the networks in Hong Kong and Macau, while Indosat Ooredoo Hutchison operates the network in Indonesia.[7][8][9] All 3-branded networks provide 4G (LTE) and 3G (WCDMA) services; some also run 2G networks and 5G services.

CK Hutchison Holdings no longer holds a 3G licence in Israel which was formerly operated under the brand Orange (now Partner Communications Company), and in Norway where an unused licence was previously held by 3 Scandinavia.

  1. ^ "Hutchison Whampoa Limited - Media Center > Press Releases". www.hutchison-whampoa.com. Retrieved 7 May 2023.
  2. ^ "Home | Three.com". www.three.com. Retrieved 20 June 2021.
  3. ^ "Home | Three Brand Central". www.threebrandcentral.com. Retrieved 14 February 2021.
  4. ^ "History | Three.com". Three.com. Archived from the original on 2 December 2019. Retrieved 4 November 2019.
  5. ^ "Hutchison Whampoa Limited - Media Center > Press Releases".
  6. ^ "Our Businesses – Telecommunications". CK Hutchison Holdings. Retrieved 6 March 2022.
  7. ^ "3 Group Europe reports revenue growth for UK, Italy". Mobile World Live. 25 August 2015. Retrieved 8 March 2018.
  8. ^ "3 Group posts 20% EBITDA rise; Hutchison Asia EBITDA drops 18% on forex". www.telegeography.com. Retrieved 8 March 2018.
  9. ^ "A New Chapter Begins: 2015 Annual Report" (PDF). CK Hutchison Holdings Limited. 2015. Archived from the original (PDF) on 10 September 2016.