Mobile operator Orange UK says it has signed up 300,000 3G users and maintains that it is on target to reach 1.5 million W-CDMA subscribers by the end of 2006. The cellco says that 22% of all new users in the final quarter of 2005 opted for a 3G package. Orange says that its 3G network now covers 70% of the UK population, whilst it has agreed W-CDMA international roaming agreements with operators in 18 countries. Orange launched 3G service in the UK in early December 2004, a month after rival Vodafone inaugurated its own UMTS operations. It did not launch its first 3G pre-paid service until October 2005, introducing a range of seven handsets with prices starting at GBP79.99.