3 Ireland will soon be "selling the iPad", according to the company's chief executive, Robert Finnegan.
The company is in discussions with Apple about exactly how the device will be sold. It may not be directly from 3 itself. However, speaking at the company's i-HSPA launch today, Finnegan made it fairly clear that the iPad will be operating on 3's network.
Unless Apple radically changes its established pattern, 3 will be setting the data rates, too. Last week, both O2 and Orange revealed their UK iPad rates.
Separately, 3 Ireland will also begin selling the iPhone within a matter of weeks. Discussions are believed to be wrapped up with Apple, with an announcement expected soon.
There are no pricing details released for either product.
4G mobile services
Meanwhile, 3 will start trialling a 42Mbs service this Autumn, according to the company's chief technical officer, Dave Hennessy. Hennessy said that the entire network would be upgraded to 14.4Mbs by the end of the year. He also said that the 3's network is now "LTE-ready" and is just waiting for the availability of new spectrum to activate it.
But this spectrum may not become available for at least another year, he said. Hennessy identified three possible spectrum allocations, all of which are not currently available:
1. 900mhz: this band will start to become available once the GSM licences of Vodafone, O2 and Meteor start expiring next year. However, it will take some time for all the licenses to expire.
2. 2.6ghz: this is the band that 3 has begun using in Denmark to roll out LTE there. However, it is currently licensed to UPC for its MMDS operations
3. Digital dividend spectrum: when Ireland switches from analogue to digital television, there will be enough spectrum "left over" to use for LTE. However, the switch to DTT remains plagued with delays.
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