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Apple to Partner with O2 for iPhone UK? Orange in France?

What's roaming like within the EU?

Basically, if the iPhone is locked to T-mobile in Germany, O2 in the UK, and Orange in France, how does that affect someone who travels throughout Europe regularly?

Many networks expand through multiple countries, but does it cost more to place calls from different countries under the same network? For example, if I bought a T-mobile iPhone in Germany, but used it in the UK, would I end up paying a fortune?
 
Tsurisuto said:
I was hoping that Apple would have chosen Orange as their service provider in the UK. They offer excellent service and have an excellent image to boot.
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Orange have a poor image for customer service.

http://networks.silicon.com/broadband/0,39024661,39167716,00.htm

Keep it in perspective - Mac enthusiasts were always going to ensure brilliant first week sales, hence the reason the first million flew off the shelf - it's called preaching to the converted.

The same will be the case in the UK - except we have FAR less enthusiasts here, naturally. If they send a million iPhone over here in the first week, they'll do well to sell a tenth of those.

The key for Apple is converting those who need convincing. How many will be sold over the next few weeks online? I doubt they'll reach two million in total.
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Of course perspective needs to be kept, but selling more phones in a opening weekend than any other phone has done in a month is solely down to Mac owners? Come on now. Lets not forget the dozens of millions of happy iPod owners there are in the states. They are the key to pushing past the enthusiast level.

NO 3G!?!?!? That is ridicoulus!
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Apple havent announced anything. Hold on to your criticism for now.
 
Nooooooooooooooo!

I've used O2 twice and both times found their service rubbish and their billing systems a nightmare.

For one (at the time, don't know if this is still the case) they charged 50p a minute to call their support line!

I cancelled my account and was billed for SIX MONTHS after it was cancelled, despite calling every month. (At 50p a minute). They also took up to 30 minutes to answer at a time. What would they be like with the iPhone demand?

The second time I cancelled because they didn't offer text message delivery confirmations.

Like I say, this may have improved now, I bloody hope so.
 
iW00t said:
You cannot argue with 2 facts:
  1. most people do not use 3G
  2. apple caters to most people
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The iPhone is a data centric device, one of its main features is being an internet communicator. It is not about what the people wants but what Apple is trying to push. If Apple sells a mobile device, saying you can browse the internet on-the-go then you should expect to be able to do so.

IMHO, if the linked article is accurate then the iPhone will be 3G. It is a fact that o2 has no EDGE in the UK. So the iPhone has to have either UMTS or nothing (read: GPRS).

The Fact that the European release is coming 4-5 months after the US release is an easy way to justify this whole current-3G-chips-drain-battery arguments. Jobs will easily reverse his previous statements by saying: "5 months is a long time in the tech industry and we found this AMAZING power-efficient chip....etc".

If the rumors that Tmobile will be the carrier in Germany and o2 in the UK are true, then I am about 99% sure the iPhone will have UMTS.
 
Cromulent said:
No they don't. Get your facts straight.

3 have 90% 3G coverage in the UK which is about 15% more than their nearest rivals. They piggyback off O2 and Orange for 2G signal though, but their 3G network is theirs and theirs alone.
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I was referring to a posters comment on Ireland, not the UK.
 
Excellent!

I love O2.
I've never had a problem with their customer service and I get a good signal at home. Unlike Vodaphone, Orange etc!

Looks like I know what to get at Christmas!
 
Vidd said:
Also why do some people call it 02? Surely it's a reference to oxygen?
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Because that is what Sean Bean keeps telling us to call it.

Philsy said:
Same applies for any country - wifi is only in built-up areas.

If the iPhone doesn't have 3G, MMS, a video camera and is subsidised on contract, it will fail miserably in the UK.
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Will need 3G and MMS really, video camera although standard on just about every half decent phone now would be a plus for the iPhone.

Philsy said:
I'm not so sure. MMS is very popular. In addition, a decent resolution camera would be good - 2Mp is pretty poor by 2007 phone standards.
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It is only so so by 2006 standards

redwin11 said:
I think it's a basic estimate on the current exchange rate: $2=£1, so the $600 price tag in the U.S. is halved. However, I think it's more likely the 4Gb version will be that price - the 8Gb will be closer to £400 if they decide to charge. We always get ripped off.
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I think we have moved away from the £400 times, that is the same price as the mac mini (well that was going to be my line of arguement but having checked out the american prrices for the mac mini the iphone is exactly the same as the mac mini which means you could be spot on but I think they will really have to reduce thier prices to get over certain hurdles for the europe market, such as the fact we are all used to free phones. Last October i got the w950 free, 4Gb internal memory, touch screen, 3G for free)

Gee4orce said:
My last 2 or 3 phones have been 3G and you know what ? - it no way lives up to the hype. Browsing using Opera Mini feels no faster than doing it on dialup, and 3G coverage in the UK is spotty at best. Plus my provider (Orange) has had real problems with the handoff between 3G and GSM modes - sometimes I've been stuck with no signal at all, even when there's a great GSM reception.
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Wow you should move to another carrier, never had any problems like that with 02
 
Project said:
selling more phones in a opening weekend than any other phone has done in a month is solely down to Mac owners?
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Erm yes.

Don't be so naive to think mobile phone users across the States were so amazed at the phone that they decided to queue outside stores, regardless of who made it.

Although the iPhone is amazing, it is NOT that revolutionary that thousands of people would pay $600 for it WITHOUT EVEN TESTING THE BLOODY THING.

The impressive figures scream of Mac fans getting in on the act after being made to salivate for six months through sites like this.
 
redwin11 said:
Erm yes.

Don't be so naive to think mobile phone users across the States were so amazed at the phone that they decided to queue outside stores, regardless of who made it.

Although the iPhone is amazing, it is NOT that revolutionary that thousands of people would pay $600 for it WITHOUT EVEN TESTING THE BLOODY THING.

The impressive figures scream of Mac fans getting in on the act after being made to salivate for six months through sites like this.
Click to expand...

So tell me why it took the iPod about a year to sell what the iPhone did in a weekend, when it was Mac only.
 
ruutiveijari said:
The MP3 market in 2001 was a bit different than the mobile phone market in 2007 is.
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Whats your point?

Im trying to say that Mac fans don't flock to buy everything Apple do. Look at the pitiful Apple TV sales. Small iPod sales at launch when Mac only. The iPhone transcends Mac owners. I have people at work talking about it all the time and it hasnt even launched here.
 
Vidd said:
Also why do some people call it 02? Surely it's a reference to oxygen?
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That reminded me of this lion in front of an O2 store in Munich...

151369782_0516c52d27_m.jpg


...I just find it hilariously ironic. :D
 
ddarko said:
He was speaking about 3G in America, my understanding is that 3G in Europe not only uses a different frequency but its technical specs make it more power efficient. Plus, 3G is far more prevalent in Europe so chipsets supporting the European-flavor of 3G are more prevalent and further along than chips that support the U.S. 3G. In other words, I wouldn't necessary assume the reasons Jobs cited for excluding 3G from the American iPhone carries over to the European version. You Europeans may very well get your 3G after all.
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Not to mention that the oft-repeated "but you'll be using Wi-Fi most of the time" mantra doesn't cut much ice over here - I spent a couple of hours yesterday wondering Nottingham city centre and couldn't find a single Wi-Fi hotspot that didn't want to charge me an arm and a leg for an hour's internet access.

Cheers

Jim
 
Free phones

Most cell phone customers get their phones for free in the US too. I really don't think that is a big difference between Europe and the US. However, those who are used to getting their phone for free may not be familiar with other cell phone markets where paying significantly for high end phones is not at all unusual (in Europe or America).
 
Of course it was different. Nobody would say otherwise. This is about the notion that record iPhone sales are because of Mac owners. You know, the 2.5% of the computer market. Guess what - Windows users like beautiful looking, beautifully designed phones too! And guess what, a lot of them are prepared to pay top dollar for the privilege of owning them. And a lot of Mac owners ARENT prepared to pay top dollar for it - ive seen enough iPhone 'hate' posts in this very forum to know that.

Go do a quick look at some of the bigger mobile forums around the internet. You will find the iPhone threads consist of more posts than any other. There were 25,000 comments left in Engadgets win an iPhone post. And their biggest page views of all time came from the launch of the iPhone. Its a big deal. Beyond the Mac world.
 
rob@robburns.co said:
Most cell phone customers get their phones for free in the US too. I really don't think that is a big difference between Europe and the US. However, those who are used to getting their phone for free may not be familiar with other cell phone markets where paying significantly for high end phones is not at all unusual (in Europe or America).
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Yes, but in the UK we can get a high-end phone free if we take out a heavy-use contract (which can then be reduced to a low use contract afterwards...)
 
Project said:
Whats your point?

Im trying to say that Mac fans don't flock to buy everything Apple do. Look at the pitiful Apple TV sales. Small iPod sales at launch when Mac only. The iPhone transcends Mac owners. I have people at work talking about it all the time and it hasnt even launched here.
Click to expand...

Yeah, people at work talking about it - but will they buy it?

Apple TV, like the iPod in 2001 is a brand new concept - it's not a product to replace your existing device, so obviously people will be cautious at first.

But with the iPhone, Apple knows that every person who looks at it already already owns a phone (most of which have a 12 month lifespan at most and will be looking to replace it soon) so it's only natural that it will sell.

Of course, there are thousands of non-Mac users who bought the iPhone, but there are probably hundreds of thousands of Mac users who also did.
 
I wonder if Apple would be super nice and let those of us with the phone to use the Euro carriers in some manner (pay as you go is great for me since I usually spend a few weeks/months a year in the UK visiting my sister and her kids)


How was the Independence Day Unlocking? Did they manage to open it up? I'd open mine up JUST to use another carrier in Europe when traveling since the AT&T rate is WAY out of my league, otherwise I'll have to carry my spare e61i.
 
in the spirt of bringing more competitiveness to mobile phone providers (thats what i thought was supposed to be happening by locking it to one provider), apple should release it unlocked, and then make all the phone providers compete with each other for the iPhone market. If at the time of release O2 have the best contracts, i'd go with O2. If orange had better prices, go with orange. This would make the whole market more competitive rather than locking it to one network to monopolize the market.
and then apple would have to supply 3G just so that 3 can use it too. :D

I have to agree releasing iPhone in UK without 3G would be a bit of a flop, since edge is basically non-existent here, and GPRS is like waiting for a snail to do the 100m sprint. But since it hasn't come from Apple yet, i'm not believing one word of it. I'd be quite happy for it to be on 3, since i find their pricing very competitive. But any one of the big 4 would be fine by me.
 
redwin11 said:
Yeah, people at work talking about it - but will they buy it?

Apple TV, like the iPod in 2001 is a brand new concept - it's not a product to replace your existing device, so obviously people will be cautious at first.

But with the iPhone, Apple knows that every person who looks at it already already owns a phone (most of which have a 12 month lifespan at most and will be looking to replace it soon) so it's only natural that it will sell.

Of course, there are thousands of non-Mac users who bought the iPhone, but there are probably hundreds of thousands of Mac users who also did.
Click to expand...

Well, people at work really dont talk about other mobile phones. I talk about phones with my mates all the time, but not at work. This is the first time people are actually discussing a phone and its features. And Apple hasnt spent a $ on the UK to market the thing.

I really dont see why people are surprised at the notion it doesnt have to be just Mac users picking these things up in droves. Apple sold 20m iPods last quarter. 97% of which were to Windows users.
 
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