THE North-East has been chosen as one of the first places in the UK outside London to have access to the new wave of mobile phone technology.

The launch of third generation (3G) mobile telephones took place in the region yesterday.

Among a range of services, customers will be able to pick up highlights of Premiership matches on their phones.

Users can also download film clips, comedy and entertainment, and ITN news bulletins; use their phones to send and receive e-mail; and find their nearest services such as cash-points and restaurants.

The 3G wave of technology has been fraught with difficulty and controversy surrounding problems with the service.

A number of network operators have suffered huge losses on licences bought from the Government to operate the phone networks.

Hutchinson 3G set up 3, the UK's first video-mobile network, and has just introduced new pricing packages in response to criticisms of 3G phones being too costly for both handsets and call billing.

Network issues are being addressed but at present, 3 only offers 60 per cent coverage of the UK.

Gareth Jones, chief operating officer of 3 UK said: "This is great news for anyone in North-East looking to buy a mobile phone."