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Apple to Break O2 iPhone Exclusivity in the UK, But Not for the 3GS?

instaxgirl said:
O2's CS was outstanding though (and, unlike T-Mobile's, free), and they did lovely things like let me give 3 days notice instead of 30 when I stopped my contract - "oh, we'd never keep charging you once you'd moved your PAC" was music to my ears.
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My experience as well.

Their coverage is poor and they can't really be bothered to roll out 3G at all, but I have to admit, some of the other carriers could learn a thing or two from their customer service. (Referring to their telephone support, not the retail stores: the retail drones are bloody hopeless)

Cancelling 3 was hell. 30 days notice is after you can even convince them to do that, after they've begged, pleaded and insisted that you get some crappy alternative to the iPhone with them. And after half an hour of arguing against that, that you give the contract to a family member. And then after half an hour of arguing against that, that you give the contract to a friend. Then a colleague. Then "OMG please, anybody, my job depends on it" (not in so many words). I ended up hanging up and writing a letter. If Apple went with 3, and there was no unlock ability (shady or not) then I'd get a Pre.

Thankfully the customer service of Apple and 3 are absolute polar opposites, so I can't see them choosing 3 in a million years :)
 
I heard something on the grapevine a couple of weeks ago that this might happen. The guy who told me said that this is all a result of the Pre getting O2 exclusivity, which apparently breaks the contract with Apple. Anyway, I moved from Orange to O2 to get an iPhone, its actually cheaper than my old contract but the customer service isn't that great!
 
About bloody time!

I was looking at leaving T-Mobile (after 11 years!) when my current contract expires and going to O2 for the 3GS. Problem was that I'm on a discounted plan as I have a friend who works for them, and really didn't want to lose it.

I'll quite happily compromise on a standard iPhone 3G on a proper network.
 
Hopefully they'll offer it on PAYG at a decent price. I couldn't believe they kept the 3g PAYG at £342 when the 3gs was launched. I thought O2 would have tried to use the old model to get a load of people onto it.

If T-Mobile get the 3g it will be a bonus becasue I can get a 3g signal at home and work on them too.
 
I'm due for an upgrade on Vodafone at the start of October so it would be nice if Voda had the iPhone too.

But if not I'd consider moving IF the deal was right, and to be honest...compared to O2's offerings, that's not going to be hard to beat!
 
O2 are furious eh!? BOUT BLOODY TIME! O2 RUIN the iPhone for me, insane prices for the upgrade to 3GS this time taking the bullet. Thank god someone like Orange may have it! Orange Wednesdays!
 
I wish the exclusivity would go away entirely, it's the last remaining thing that puts me off buying an iPhone.
 
Hi

Ok Apple are only going to let T-Mobile and Orange sell the iPhone 3G (and not the 3Gs).

Ok as far as we know Vodafone are not getting the iPhone.

...but it has to be a good thing. let people pick what network they want to be with. It might even bring the tariff's down.

Alex
 
It better bring the prices down, every time I think about the possibility of an iPhone I look at those tariffs and choke.
 
mogzieee said:
This is probably just Apple angry that O2 managed to secure exclusivity to the Palm Pre and a plethora of other smartphones.

Also, hasn't this multiple-carrier stuff happened in France or some other European country already? I seem to remember there was some case about it.
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Do you think O2 might of know that Apple were in someway going to end their exclusive agreement, thats why the went for the Palm Pre? Maybe they thought we are never going to keep the Apple deal and we have made as much as we can selling the iphone 3g so let it go. Don't fight for it.

In France Orange had the exclusive deal for iPhone, now SFR and Bouygues Telecom also sell the iphone. However here they had to go to court to get the exclusive deal ended. (My view is that Orange were not very happy, but Apple might of been. More networks = more people buying iPhone)
 
yetanotherdave said:
Wow, talk about a steb backwards, aren't t-mobile the only one worse than o2 (3, tesco and virgin discounted because they aren't proper providers, just re-sellers)
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I have been with Vodafone for 4 years now, and they've irritated me so much that when it comes to my upgrade this summer I will do anything to quit them and go with either O2 or Orange.

camperdown9 said:
Do you think O2 might of know that Apple were in someway going to end their exclusive agreement, thats why the went for the Palm Pre? Maybe they thought we are never going to keep the Apple deal and we have made as much as we can selling the iphone 3g so let it go. Don't fight for it.

In France Orange had the exclusive deal for iPhone, now SFR and Bouygues Telecom also sell the iphone. However here they had to go to court to get the exclusive deal ended. (My view is that Orange were not very happy, but Apple might of been. More networks = more people buying iPhone)
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Too true, nice thinking. And yes, this is the court case I was thinking about.
 
Where are all these great deals that Orange and T-Mobile offer?

I just had a look at their websites and can't find any plans that are any better than the tariff I get from O2, at maximum it was about £5 a month saving but there was a catch with all of them. Orange don't offer more than 500Mb traffic a month, some plans didn't include voicemail and none of them included MMS as part of your SMS.

Can someone show me the talk plans on the Orange and T-Mobile websites that beat my O2 iPhone contract?

I'm on the 18 month, £44.05 for 1200 mins and 500 texts.
 
babyj said:
Where are all these great deals that Orange and T-Mobile offer?

I just had a look at their websites and can't find any plans that are any better than the tariff I get from O2, at maximum it was about £5 a month saving but there was a catch with all of them. Orange don't offer more than 500Mb traffic a month, some plans didn't include voicemail and none of them included MMS as part of your SMS.

Can someone show me the talk plans on the Orange and T-Mobile websites that beat my O2 iPhone contract?

I'm on the 18 month, £44.05 for 1200 mins and 500 texts.
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Well I am on Orange paying Racoon 30 which is £30 a month with 1200 min and 500 text messages with unlimited internet usage and unlimited landline calls to any network anytime. 3G speed and coverage is far better then O2 i had o2 contract when first gen iphone released and really o2 3g speed was so slow and coverage its just not good as Orange.

Move back to Orange and really folks its great.. plus u get calling tones lol not a major stuff but just thought add that too..

there is another talk plan 29 a month 1600 min 500 text and unlimited text not bad.
MMS bundle is you got to add as a extra bolt on regardless which network you are on.
 
O2 already know it's over which is exactly why they are gouging us for everything they can with this revision. This is the first 1st time I haven't upgraded, bet I'm not alone by a long way.
 
mcmonkiez said:
Well I am on Orange paying Racoon 30 which is £30 a month with 1200 min and 500 text messages with unlimited internet usage and unlimited landline calls to any network anytime.

MMS bundle is you got to add as a extra bolt on regardless which network you are on.
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The Orange website lists Racoon 30 as having 400 mins, 300 texts, free landline calls and evening / weekend internet for 2 months @ £30. Plus Orange appear to define "unlimited" as 500Mb a month.

I'm guessing you've got a retention deal or have been with them a while, as they do give better deals for long term customers.

MMS isn't a bolt on with the O2 iPhone plans, they just count as 4 texts.

Anyone that thinks the iPhone will be massively cheaper with Orange or T-Mobile is likely to have a big shock, if they do get to supply them. They will charge just the same so they can make a decent profit, to pay Apple their healthy chunk and to cover the extra network usage costs that come with the iPhone.

The only thing that will change is that people will be complaining about Orange and T-Mobile as well as O2.
 
Seems as if now, the iPhone 3G is just "another" 'phone. Like so many Nokias, Samsungs etc. etc.
 
Id always be with O2, i love them as a carrier, But i hope this brings a lower price to the iPhone.
 
Stig McNasty said:
Excellent news - and I've only just gone to O2 with the 3GS. Orange is the best for reception here (halfway between Worcester and Kidderminster), then it's a long way to O2. Voda and the rest are utter, utter pants.
At least it may kick O2 enough to *gasp* compete.
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I'm about 10 mile from Worcester and 10 from Kiddy and my signal is crap too, no 3G here... I'd have to seriously consider moving back to T-mobile after my contract is up
 
babyj said:
The Orange website lists Racoon 30 as having 400 mins, 300 texts, free landline calls and evening / weekend internet for 2 months @ £30. Plus Orange appear to define "unlimited" as 500Mb a month.

I'm guessing you've got a retention deal or have been with them a while, as they do give better deals for long term customers.
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There's also a SIM only Racoon 30 plan that lists the following benefits: 1200 minutes + 500 texts + unlimited landline + 500mb/month data. As you need to provide your own phone with a SIM only plan they offer you more benefits as there's no phone to subsidise. Also the SIM only plan is a 1 month contract so you can get out at any time.

The SIM only plan does look a good deal for someone inheriting an old iPhone. They can unlock it and use it on their network of choice.

I hope this exclusivity ends, I've stuck with my old Nokia on Orange because I've seen how poor 3G coverage can be with O2 and I live in Central London. My phone is showing 3G where my friends iPhones are showing EDGE. Competition is good, the best network for one person is not the best for another.

Also can anyone remember how O2 botched the launch of the iPhone 3G last year? Their activation site (that had to be used in store) required IE and so the Apple stores had to install parallels (or was it vmware) on all the machines that they were using to set up O2 accounts. This had to be embarrassing for Apple, having to launch Windows to complete the setup of an Apple product. The whole process was slow and tedious that the first few weeks after launch the Regent Street store had roped off most of the laptops on display upstairs for use as extra activation points.
 
Here in the land down under (Australia) we have 3 providers and then virgin who piggyback on another network, with the iPhone and let me tell you even with all major carriers having it doesn't make for great competition. We don't even get unlimited data. (I am originally from the UK and so know all about the carriers over there :rolleyes:) Was with O2 and I have to say I thought they were fine, nothing to fault compared to the carriers over here. Did you know PAYG credit expires. It's a joke. Anyway:

Telstra (like O2) (also like BT) - Worst deals best coverage
Vodafone (like......well der) - Bad deals poor coverage
Optus (T-mobile or Orange) - good deals average coverage (ME)
Virgin Mobile (Optus) - Fantastic deals very poor service

Basically even if the other carriers were to be let in one maybe two would decide to do good deals to get the customers in, presumable Orange and T-Mobile and then people like voda and O2 would sit tight and won't do badly out of it, mainly because they have customers who stick with them.
 
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