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Purpose – As the market competition becomes increasingly intensive and the profit from traditional voice services margins gradually decline, 3G telecom operators must provide various value-added services to enhance the ARPU (average revenue per user). The purpose of this paper is to recognize the factors infecting the adoption of 3G value-added services. Design/methodology/approach – The TAM (technology acceptance model) was used as the foundation to further understand consumer's behavioral intention to use 3G value-added services. Structural equation modelling (SEM) was used to develop a conceptual model of customer adoption and nine important factors were proposed. The authors conducted a questionnaire investigation, using a large sample, in the Chinese 3G value-added service market. SPSS and AMOS were applied to analyze the survey data. Findings – The empirical findings are: security and social influence are two of the most important factors in 3G market; 3G value-added services must be perceived as enjoyment and useful; using context should be friendly and compatible; and in a whole view, the influence from gender, ease of use and need for unique to adoption intention is not significant, but to separate as two models, the difference is huge – the female group considers more about price and usefulness, while the male group thinks about enjoyment and compatibility. Practical implications – The sample of this study is limited at the range of empirical data; the development of 3G technology has not yet been perfected in China and this study fails to include all of the 3G value-added services, some of which are still in the exploratory phase of development. At the same time, the cities in this study cannot be said to represent the present stage of the whole of China. Originality/value – The paper develops a conceptual structural equation model on the area of 3G value-added services in China. The findings in the paper would help 3G providers to improve their services. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]