Billing & paymentsJargon Buster

This stands for 2.5 Generation network. It's more advanced than a 2G network because it lets you send and receive multimedia messages (MMS)  and use the internet on the move, but it's slower than our 3G network.

This stands for 3rd Generation network. It's what lets you use the internet on your mobile phone and get Mobile Broadband on your laptop or computer.

These are free calls that you make to other mobiles on 3. They're generally included as part of your price plan, if you're on Pay Monthly or our latest Pay As You Go plan.

Asymmetric Digital Subscriber Line is a type of fixed-line broadband connection. It works by allowing ordinary copper telephone lines to transmit data at broadband speeds of up to 9Mbps.

This stands for Assisted Global Positioning System. It's how your mobile communicates with GPS (Global Positioning System) satellites and local base stations to find out where it is.

Allowances are the amounts of minutes, texts or data that is included as part of your deal. Exactly what you get depends on your price plan.

This is when we block a mobile from making certain types of calls to numbers like Premium rate or International numbers. We can also block numbers that make or send nuisance calls or texts.

For more on this, call 333 free from your 3 mobile.

This is the term used for measuring the smallest unit of computer data. Eight bits make up one byte. To give you an idea of just how small a Bit is, a full page of text on a computer is made up of about 16,000 bits.

The software that lets you surf the internet on your computer or your mobile. All 3 mobiles automatically come with a browser.

Caller ID lets you see the phone number of the person calling you on your mobile's screen. If you've saved that number as a contact, the name should appear.

The way the mobile network passes your call from one base station (a cell) to another, to make sure you keep talking while you're on the move. It's also known as 'handing over'. Using the internet on the move works like this too.

This refers to the reach of our network - and is measured by how much of the UK population we cover.

Digital Rights Management is the technology used to prevent copyright-protected things like ringtones or music videos being shared.

This stands for Enhanced Data rates for GSM Evolution. It's a technology that lets mobile phone operators upgrade parts of their networks from 2.5G to 3G by increasing both the speed that data is transmitted and amount of data that can be carried.

This stands for Global Positioning Systems. Most 3 mobiles have built-in GPS, which uses radio signals to tell you exactly where you are in the world, by listening to satellites. GPS is also found in cars, boats and other vehicles.

This stands for High Speed Downlink Packet Access, which is a fast way to receive data on the 3G network. To give you an idea of the speed, it would take about a minute to download a 3-4 minute music track.

International Mobile Equipment Identifier is your mobile's unique 15-digit ID number. If you need to find your IMEI, key in *#06# (star, hash, zero, six, hash) or look under the battery compartment.

This is when you use any of our services abroad.

> More, including current rates, at http://www.three.co.uk/Help_Support/International

IP stands for Internet Protocol. IP telephony lets you make phone calls over the internet, intranets or private networks, which is how Skype works. Also known as Voice over IP (VoIP).

This is the computer programming language, commonly used on mobile phones for things like games. You'll also find it on web servers and other applications.

A unit of computer data that is made up of one million bytes of computer data. To give you an idea, a high-quality digital photograph is about 3MB. What can I do with 1GB?

This stands for Multimedia Messaging Service, but most people know it as Picture Messaging. With this service you can send photos, videos and audio clips and graphics, as well as text.

When a customer on the 3 network makes a call to another network, 3 are charged a fee by this network. This is called a Mobile Termination Rate.

This is a BLOG that's posted on the internet from a mobile phone. Most Moblogs contain photos and clips taken on a mobile phone camera.

This is a format for storing music files.

See Mobile phone network

These are companies, like 3 and BT, who are licensed to run a communications network.

This is the independent regulator for the UK television, radio and telecommunications industries.

> Find out more at www.ofcom.org.uk

The Office of The Telecommunications Ombudsman (Otelo) is the organisation that looks into complaints against UK mobile network operators. The service is free and independent.

> Find out more at Otelo.org.uk.

This is what you can do with two Bluetooth-enabled devices, such as a mobile and laptop. This means you can send information from one device to the other.

Pay Monthly means you have a contract with us that lasts for a set number of months (usually 18 or 24) and you receive a monthly bill. Depending on your contract, you also get a choice of the latest mobile phones included in the price. Various price plans are available.

> Find out more at www.three.co.uk

Sometimes referred to as a multimedia message (MMS), you use these to send a picture or video.

These are ringtones that are different to the original version of a song or track. If you want the original version you need a realtune.

This function on your mobile guesses the word you're trying to type in as you type it. On your mobile this option is known as T9.

> For more on how predictive text works, check your User Guide.

This stands for Personal Unlock Key. It's what you need to get from us if you enter the wrong PIN on your mobile three times in a row and it 'locks'.

> To get a PUK or PUK2, call us on 08707 330 333 (calls charged at national rates).

Unlike a polyphonic ringtone, a Realtune is a mobile ringtone that comes from a real music track.

A reflash is when we upgrade the operating software on your mobile. It's what we sometimes do if you send us your mobile to be repaired. If you ever need your mobile repaired, make sure you back up anything you want to keep on your mobile's memory before you send it in, as a reflash will also wipe the memory clean.

RSS (Rich Site Summary) is a format for delivering regularly changing web content. Lots of news-related sites, weblogs and other online publishers offer their content as an RSS Feed to whoever wants it. RSS is good for people who regularly use the web. It allows them to easily stay informed as they get the latest content from the sites they're interested in.

Signal strength tells you how good your network coverage is. Take a look at the coverage bars on your mobile phone or Mobile Broadband screen. The more bars you see, the stronger the signal.

This allows you to get a 3 SIM to use on Pay As You Go or Pay Monthly without having to buy a phone. You can put the SIM into any 3G mobile to enjoy all the benefits of being with 3.

Skype on 3 is a free internet service that gives you free Skype-to-Skype calls and free 'chats' (instant messages) from the UK to other people who use Skype in the UK or around the world. You can also make low-cost international calls and chats with Skype 'Call Phones Abroad' to people who aren't using Skype, whether they're on a mobile phone or a landline. It works whenever you're connected to our 3 network.

At 3, we carefully choose, customise and test our mobile phones to ensure the best possible customer experience. But we're keen to bring the benefits of being with 3 (including free Skype-to-Skype calls and free Windows Live Messenger chats) to as many people as possible. We're making free Skype and Windows Live Messenger available on as many 3G mobiles as we can. If you've got a non-3 3G phone you can check if yours is compatible with our free services at www.three.co.uk/simsetup

Also knows as Quickplay, this is a quicker way for you to download large or video files from our network.

It's quicker because instead of waiting for the whole file to download, streaming sends a continuous flow (or stream) of data to your mobile or laptop.

This is what we used to call our HSDPA network.

This is when you send a file from your mobile phone or computer to the internet or other system, for example when adding a picture. It's the exact opposite of downloading.

See SIM card

This is like voicemail, except that people leave you video messages instead. Everyone on 3 has a videomail box. To see how yours works, check your User Guide.

This is the answering service where people can leave a message if you miss their call. Everyone on 3 has voicemail and listening to them in the UK is free on Pay Monthly and Pay As You Go. To see how your voicemail works, check your User Guide.

These are free email services that you access via the internet, like Hotmail, Google Mail and Yahoo! Mail.

Sorry, there are no entries here at the moment, but we're constantly updating this list.

Sorry, there are no entries here at the moment, but we're constantly updating this list.