But again, O2 and/or Apple UK will probably charge a £99 minimum over-the-air unlocking fee...
For non-iPhones you have to have used it for 12 months on their network before O2 will unlock it. For the iPhone they don't offer unlocking. Both are bollocks.
What is the law in the UK when it comes to unlocking, do O2 have to unlock Pay As You Go phones when you ask them to? What about phones on a contract?
These prices seam reasonable on the surface, free unlimited browsing and Wi-Fi for the first year reduce the cost of the 8Gb to £230, which is less than the first generation at £270.
If your usage is low then it could be a good deal but if your usage increased will O2 let you transfer to a contact?
I'm not sure at the moment what to do about the iPhone 3G. I have an unlocked first gen and I would like a legit one but the price and the buggy 2.0 software is putting me off.
I would bet that the iPhone will be locked to O2 but I think there ways to unlock it and use a different SIM card. The only problem could be when Apple issues iPhone software updates - will they work if you have moved off O2? I don't know.
I don't see any reason why O2 would not let you move onto a contract if you wanted. With Pay As You Go you only pay for one month's usage at a time so once you have paid and used your month then just buy a contract instead. It's not the best way of doing it though as you can save a lot of money off the purchase price of the iPhone if you buy it with a contract. If you're not sure I would buy a cheap PAYG phone to see how much you use it before shelling out £350-£400 on the iPhone or committing to an 18-24 month contract.
With Pay As You Go you only pay for one month's usage at a time so once you have paid and used your month then just buy a contract instead. It's not the best way of doing it though as you can save a lot of money off the purchase price of the iPhone if you buy it with a contract.
That isn't how PAYG works. You buy £10 of credit and it lasts indefinitely, not 1 month. Sometimes the carrier requires you to top-up at least every 6 months though.
If you don't use you phone for outgoing calls or text very often then stumping up the £350 for the iPhone may be a couple of hundred pounds cheaper than the contract version.
eg.
PAYG - £350 + 6months * £10 for the data after the 12 months free = £410. Add in say £10 a month for calls/text = £590.
So in that instance the PAYG iPhone is £49 cheaper. Many people spend significantly less than £10 a month on calls/text. I've a business line that I only ever get incoming calls on - very rarely used for outgoing. I've probably spent £20 in total on it in two years and I've probably got £17 of it left.
edit: one difference of course is O2 aren't giving you Visual Voicemail or call merging on PAYG, which is a little stingy but not the end of the world.
That isn't how PAYG works. You buy £10 of credit and it lasts indefinitely, not 1 month. Sometimes the carrier requires you to top-up at least every 6 months though.
If you don't use you phone for outgoing calls or text very often then stumping up the £350 for the iPhone may be a couple of hundred pounds cheaper than the contract version.
eg.
PAYG - £350 + 6months * £10 for the data after the 12 months free = £410. Add in say £10 a month for calls/text = £590.
So in that instance the PAYG iPhone is £49 cheaper. Many people spend significantly less than £10 a month on calls/text. I've a business line that I only ever get incoming calls on - very rarely used for outgoing. I've probably spent £20 in total on it in two years and I've probably got £17 of it left.
edit: one difference of course is O2 aren't giving you Visual Voicemail or call merging on PAYG, which is a little stingy but not the end of the world.
You have to use the free minutes/texts within 30 days but yes you can use up the £10 (or whatever) credit as and when over time.
I'm interested in the PAYG iPhone because like you I generally receive calls rather than make a lot of calls so once you've paid the upfront costs for the phone it's better than shelling out £30 a month on a contract when I only make a handful of calls. Also I like the idea of free internet access for a year included.
I'm pretty satisfied. It's a shade more up-front than I was hoping, but I was expecting 6 Months of Free Data if any, not 12! ANd I was going to pay out for it no matter what, so to me that values the phone at £280 for 16GB. Not bad at all. I don't text or call enough to warrant a contract (And I don't want one either). Pay/Go suits me and the Data does too - the full internet is one of my primary reasons for getting the phone.
All in all, not too bad. The no VVM and Call Merging is odd, but I can't see ever using them anyway - I don't get voicemail and don't recall ever needing to conference call. So pretty good. I may have to wait till October though.
What? For the first 12 Months, no matter what, you get 12 months of free, unlimited data plus free use of O2's Wi-Fi HotSpots. After that, you pay £10 a month for the same privilege. It's not like they're gonna stop you using data on the network after 12 months unless you pay £10 a month, never mind stop you using (Any) Wi-Fi
you can use the ipod to surf the internet (where it's available)
but with the iphone you have to pay o2 10 quid a month for the privilege after 12 months on pay as you go?
i just don't get it?
They mean via O2's network or via BT OpenZone and The Cloud Wifi hotspots, which aren't usually free. If you've a free open wifi network you can of course use that instead.
Comments
...prepaid devices are more popular for customers traveling to mainland Europe....
But again, O2 and/or Apple UK will probably charge a £99 minimum over-the-air unlocking fee...
Want the iPhone 3G fully software unlocked? Support the competition to unlock NOW!!! Screw this locking bollocks.
http://www.unlock3g.org
But again, O2 and/or Apple UK will probably charge a £99 minimum over-the-air unlocking fee...
For non-iPhones you have to have used it for 12 months on their network before O2 will unlock it. For the iPhone they don't offer unlocking. Both are bollocks.
What is the law in the UK when it comes to unlocking, do O2 have to unlock Pay As You Go phones when you ask them to? What about phones on a contract?
These prices seam reasonable on the surface, free unlimited browsing and Wi-Fi for the first year reduce the cost of the 8Gb to £230, which is less than the first generation at £270.
If your usage is low then it could be a good deal but if your usage increased will O2 let you transfer to a contact?
I'm not sure at the moment what to do about the iPhone 3G. I have an unlocked first gen and I would like a legit one but the price and the buggy 2.0 software is putting me off.
I would bet that the iPhone will be locked to O2 but I think there ways to unlock it and use a different SIM card. The only problem could be when Apple issues iPhone software updates - will they work if you have moved off O2? I don't know.
I don't see any reason why O2 would not let you move onto a contract if you wanted. With Pay As You Go you only pay for one month's usage at a time so once you have paid and used your month then just buy a contract instead. It's not the best way of doing it though as you can save a lot of money off the purchase price of the iPhone if you buy it with a contract. If you're not sure I would buy a cheap PAYG phone to see how much you use it before shelling out £350-£400 on the iPhone or committing to an 18-24 month contract.
With Pay As You Go you only pay for one month's usage at a time so once you have paid and used your month then just buy a contract instead. It's not the best way of doing it though as you can save a lot of money off the purchase price of the iPhone if you buy it with a contract.
That isn't how PAYG works. You buy £10 of credit and it lasts indefinitely, not 1 month. Sometimes the carrier requires you to top-up at least every 6 months though.
If you don't use you phone for outgoing calls or text very often then stumping up the £350 for the iPhone may be a couple of hundred pounds cheaper than the contract version.
eg.
PAYG - £350 + 6months * £10 for the data after the 12 months free = £410. Add in say £10 a month for calls/text = £590.
Contract - £99 + 18 months * £30 (cheapest contract) = £639.
So in that instance the PAYG iPhone is £49 cheaper. Many people spend significantly less than £10 a month on calls/text. I've a business line that I only ever get incoming calls on - very rarely used for outgoing. I've probably spent £20 in total on it in two years and I've probably got £17 of it left.
edit: one difference of course is O2 aren't giving you Visual Voicemail or call merging on PAYG, which is a little stingy but not the end of the world.
That isn't how PAYG works. You buy £10 of credit and it lasts indefinitely, not 1 month. Sometimes the carrier requires you to top-up at least every 6 months though.
If you don't use you phone for outgoing calls or text very often then stumping up the £350 for the iPhone may be a couple of hundred pounds cheaper than the contract version.
eg.
PAYG - £350 + 6months * £10 for the data after the 12 months free = £410. Add in say £10 a month for calls/text = £590.
Contract - £99 + 18 months * £30 (cheapest contract) = £639.
So in that instance the PAYG iPhone is £49 cheaper. Many people spend significantly less than £10 a month on calls/text. I've a business line that I only ever get incoming calls on - very rarely used for outgoing. I've probably spent £20 in total on it in two years and I've probably got £17 of it left.
edit: one difference of course is O2 aren't giving you Visual Voicemail or call merging on PAYG, which is a little stingy but not the end of the world.
You have to use the free minutes/texts within 30 days but yes you can use up the £10 (or whatever) credit as and when over time.
I'm interested in the PAYG iPhone because like you I generally receive calls rather than make a lot of calls so once you've paid the upfront costs for the phone it's better than shelling out £30 a month on a contract when I only make a handful of calls. Also I like the idea of free internet access for a year included.
I'm really looking forward to the 16th.
Boooooo what?
Sorry. Boooooo!! as in i don't think these PAYG deals are that appealing.
All in all, not too bad. The no VVM and Call Merging is odd, but I can't see ever using them anyway - I don't get voicemail and don't recall ever needing to conference call. So pretty good. I may have to wait till October though.
you can use the ipod to surf the internet (where it's available)
but with the iphone you have to pay o2 10 quid a month for the privilege after 12 months on pay as you go?
i just don't get it?
Locked or unlocked? Any news yet? 'Coz if it is unlocked I will get my brother to send me one from the UK pronto!
Locked. O2 don't sell unlocked phones
I don't get it?
you can use the ipod to surf the internet (where it's available)
but with the iphone you have to pay o2 10 quid a month for the privilege after 12 months on pay as you go?
i just don't get it?
They mean via O2's network or via BT OpenZone and The Cloud Wifi hotspots, which aren't usually free. If you've a free open wifi network you can of course use that instead.