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Isn't unlimited data worth something too? Not all contracts are bad...

B

babahi

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Aug 27, 2006
12
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I am also looking at buying an iPhone and unlocking it, or buying it already unlocked.

But the fact that so many people are interested in the iPhone without a contract leads me to wonder if everybody just wants it as an iPod Touch without a phone function.

Isn't a data plan worth something for when you want to use the iPhone's mobile internet ability? Plus the minutes offered? Granted, it may not be as much as providers are charging for their contracts, but it still does have a value. If I used an unlocked iPhone with my German Vodafone SIM card, I would be reamed by the data charges.

Perhaps I have only heard the most from people who just want a cool phone but don't plan to surf with it, they just might be the most vocal group. But I'm wondering if anybody else has taken the price of a data plan into account. I'm not defending the expensive contracts available, but I don't feel that they can be simply dismissed as worthless, either. Anyone else see this as well, or have I missed something?
 
babahi said:
I am also looking at buying an iPhone and unlocking it, or buying it already unlocked.

But the fact that so many people are interested in the iPhone without a contract leads me to wonder if everybody just wants it as an iPod Touch without a phone function.

Isn't a data plan worth something for when you want to use the iPhone's mobile internet ability? Plus the minutes offered? Granted, it may not be as much as providers are charging for their contracts, but it still does have a value. If I used an unlocked iPhone with my German Vodafone SIM card, I would be reamed by the data charges.

Perhaps I have only heard the most from people who just want a cool phone but don't plan to surf with it, they just might be the most vocal group. But I'm wondering if anybody else has taken the price of a data plan into account. I'm not defending the expensive contracts available, but I don't feel that they can be simply dismissed as worthless, either. Anyone else see this as well, or have I missed something?
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i surf the web maybe 3 hours a day with my phone, the fact i don't even have to think about the cost makes the contract worthwhile for me.
 
I agree. I'm completely baffled as to why someone would unlock their iPhone, when they have the option of the exclusive contract. I don't want an unlocked iPhone. The unlimited data, and 7,500 free WiFi hotspots are worth it!
 
skeen said:
I agree. I'm completely baffled as to why someone would unlock their iPhone, when they have the option of the exclusive contract. I don't want an unlocked iPhone. The unlimited data, and 7,500 free WiFi hotspots are worth it!
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Don't you travel abroad and want to use a local sim to save you loads of money instead of roaming? Lots of people do. I've even made good use of free sim card offers in the past to make calls even though I'm on contract. Then there's the bonus you can give/lend your phone to the other half/relative/friend when their phone dies or they don't have one (quad/tri band) that works in the US etc...
 
Exactly. I have an AT&T contract for my iPhone, but I would love to have it unlocked, as I plan on traveling abroad in Canada soon, and would prefer to get a local SIM there instead of paying to roam internationally.
 
There are valid arguments both ways. Personally I prefer the official route and I don't think that the O2 tariffs in the U.K. are that bad. Not that I wouldn't mind them being a little cheaper or alternatively including more minutes of talk time.
 
I think the £35.00 / month tariff seems expensive compared to the other ones simply because of the paltry number of free minutes: I guess most of the cost is taken up with the data bit. Having said that the £45.00 and £55.00 give a lot of minutes / SMS for the money and are pretty good value. I hate having to think about how long I've been on the phone or used data so decided to go for the £55 per month tariff and I think for what you get (including the truly unlimited data and cloud wifi) it is really good value for money.
 
Daeve said:
Don't you travel abroad and want to use a local sim to save you loads of money instead of roaming? Lots of people do. I've even made good use of free sim card offers in the past to make calls even though I'm on contract. Then there's the bonus you can give/lend your phone to the other half/relative/friend when their phone dies or they don't have one (quad/tri band) that works in the US etc...
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my phone is pretty useless if it isn't answering calls to my number...so no.
 
I do understand the advantage of an unlocked phone; there's no argument or doubt as to its flexibility. What I'm talking about it an unlocked phone WITHOUT a contract. Using the iPhone's browser is one of the main features, and if have no data plan, then that can be quite expensive. So my point is that the contracts, although they appear expensive for voice-only service, do actually have some merit.

And, of course, I can understand that some people simply want the iPhone to use as an iPod Touch with phone function. Maybe they just want the phone for their current contract and don't plan to surf much. That's cool, too -- I just hadn't heard anything other than "these contracts are a rip-off," and was wondering if anybody else thought about these unlimited data plans included in them, as I did.
 
I went with the £45 a month option. I used to pay around £35 with my Nokia but for the first time I feel comfortable using data and as many texts and minutes as I want, whereas previously I would always be worried about how long i'd be surfing. Im perfectly happy with what I have now.
 
redgaz26 said:
i surf the web maybe 3 hours a day with my phone, the fact i don't even have to think about the cost makes the contract worthwhile for me.
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I couldn't agree more. Plus the cost of the plans aren't that much more than other carriers, but then again it really makes you feel a lot better when you know you've paid all you need to and you have all the functionality at your fingertips.
 
I also cannot understand this obsession with unlocking the iphone to use on other networks. The contract is not that expensive as a package which includes unlimited data - considering that if you only want to make calls then you are missing out on nearly all the functionality of the device!

There is no way it would be cheaper to pay for the data as u use it since i think that you would use much more in reality than you expect.

Also, as for unlocking and going abroad, why would you even bother to take your iphone on holiday if you just want to buy a local simcard. Buy a cheap pay as u go handet or use an old phone, then u dont have to worry about having your iphone on the beach or left in a hotel room etc.
 
You should remember though, on other contracts with other phones you're paying for your chosen handset over the duration of the contract. With the iPhone you've already paid for the handset. This should immediately drop (at a guess) £10-15 off the monthly contract cost. That £10-15 'saved' because you're not spreading the cost of the handset in with the contract would basically pay for the data, so there's no excuse why the minutes and texts included is pathetic compared to other equally priced tariffs, or to just have lower priced tariff options...other than o2 trying to recoup the money they surrendered to Apple when they did their revenue sharing deal :rolleyes:
 
daeve said:
Don't you travel abroad and want to use a local sim to save you loads of money instead of roaming? Lots of people do. I've even made good use of free sim card offers in the past to make calls even though I'm on contract. Then there's the bonus you can give/lend your phone to the other half/relative/friend when their phone dies or they don't have one (quad/tri band) that works in the US etc...
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helo said:
my phone is pretty useless if it isn't answering calls to my number...so no.
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I normally redirect my calls to the new number, or leave a voicemail message giving my other number - very simple really and saves me a fortune in roaming costs when using the phone in another country - sure it may be a hassle to change sims but the amounts of money involved can be astronomical in Europe.
 
CD3660 said:
I agree, that's why I went for the £45 option which is far better value for money if you can afford it.
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The £45 is soo much better value than the £35, which is probably why O2 tiered it this way, to encourage more people to cough up that extra £10. I won't go over the allowance on the £45, but if I had a £35 contract, it would end up costing me more. I use about 400mins and 400txts
 
Luckily for me, data has always been my biggest cost on O2, when I had my BlackBerry. My internet went down for a few weeks a little while ago, and I spent over £80 on data!

So, I'm going to be a getting a hell of a lot of value out of my data usage. I'm quite modest with my call time, and I just happen to send around 200 txts per month - so I opted for the £35 plan. I should be paying less than what I was paying before on my BlackBerry.
 
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