O2 tethering charges!!!

[Small White Car]

No, it is data , pure and simple , data !! It should be up to the USER to decide how it is used, not the operator to impose draconian charges on one way of internet connection.

Well if that's how you feel, you really shouldn't have signed a contract with O2 saying you agree otherwise.

Seems kind of lame to sign a contract saying you agree with that, then turn around and demand legal action against it. Why did you agree to those terms in the first place if it bothered you so much?

EDIT: And according to google that's the same as $24.20 here in the U.S. I guess this thread is just a small preview of the one we'll get when AT&T announces their $30 tethering plan, hm?

 

[iSimx]

Please people. You get FREE DATA on ALL plans, and your moaning about them charging a little extra for tethering?

No, this is definitely not shocking.

What other countries can say this about the iPhone? You don't realise it yet, but O2 is the single best carrier for an iPhone plan.

Tethering is not widely used, therefore it's not a necessity, it's a luxury.
If you want it, expect to pay through your nose for it. End of.

R-Fly

This is not shocking as you say as businesses in the UK rip people off anyway, so not surprising o2 screw customers as well. However, tethering isn't widely used because it's not known by the large majority of customers, (who aren't geeky lol), or what it is.

Many people accept that's the way they charge and if they charge an extra £15, who cares, end of story as you say.. That's the british attitude. And for that reason, o2 can charge what they like, people will still pay. Apple can overprice their products because (apart from not having a choice) people will pay.

 

[ericvmazzone]

ridiculous. Although at least O2 is better than At&T. No tethering or MMS until the end of the summer.

Ha, even the employees at the AT&T stores don't understand that one. When I pre-ordered yesterday, those guys were talking about it. They figure that AT&T might try and charge extra for MMS.

 

[poolish]

those prices are ridiculous. the end

 

[Carniphage]

What we really need

Is more than one carrier stocking the iPhone.

With a bit of competition, I am sure the pricing would become a bit more rational.

C.

 

[psollitt]

Well if that's how you feel, you really shouldn't have signed a contract with O2 saying you agree otherwise.

Seems kind of lame to sign a contract saying you agree with that, then turn around and demand legal action against it. Why did you agree to those terms in the first place if it bothered you so much?

EDIT: And according to google that's the same as $24.20 here in the U.S. I guess this thread is just a small preview of the one we'll get when AT&T announces their $30 tethering plan, hm?

I have not signed the new contract ! That is the point , nor will I with those conditions in place !

My main point is that O2 look like they are in breach of UK law regarding the advertising of this and the current wording !

The ONLY thing that will change O2s mind is outrage from users and potential users resulting in bad press regarding this .

(or a Visit from UK trading standards.. )

 

[maverick808]

I have not signed the new contract ! That is the point , nor will I with those conditions in place !

My main point is that O2 look like they are in breach of UK law regarding the advertising of this and the current wording !

The ONLY thing that will change O2s mind is outrage from users and potential users resulting in bad press regarding this .

(or a Visit from UK trading standards.. )

Whilst I agree that the prices are outrageous, I think the point being made is that the contract you originally signed X months ago had the clause already in it. You don't have to sign a new contract, you already agreed to those terms with the contract you have signed some time ago.

 

[magga]

Does anyone know how they plan to stop people tethering?

It's already enabled on my phone and it works so I'm not sure how they are going to regulate it?

 

[Phil A.]

Does anyone know how they plan to stop people tethering?

It's already enabled on my phone and it works so I'm not sure how they are going to regulate it?

Well, they could send you a bill for thousands of pounds if you use it without a bundle in place - they would be entitled to bill you at the per MB rate under the terms of your contract.

 

[magga]

How exactly are they going to know you're tethering - that's what I meant. As far as I can tell, there is no way to determine whether your iPhone is directly using the data or an external device connected through the iPhone is using the data.

 

[psollitt]

Whilst I agree that the prices are outrageous, I think the point being made is that the contract you originally signed X months ago had the clause already in it. You don't have to sign a new contract, you already agreed to those terms with the contract you have signed some time ago.

I still don't see why O2 have allowed tethering with all its other phones for years ..

In the past i was able to connect my good old Nokia N95 to my mac and still can do with my iphone sim !

Their entire policy new "over the top" charges for Tethering is going to create a large amount of negative publicity for them , right at a time when they need positive publicity for the new product !

 

[Phil A.]

I still don't see why O2 have allowed tethering with all its other phones for years ..

In the past i was able to connect my good old Nokia N95 to my mac and still can do with my iphone sim !

Their entire policy new "over the top" charges for Tethering is going to create a large amount of negative publicity for them , right at a time when they need positive publicity for the new product !

Whilst it has been technically possible with other devices for years, it's always been contrary to O2s terms and conditions. All they're doing here is making it an option where it hasn't been before. I had a big debate with O2 last year around tethering an E90 - the device supported it but when I asked them if I needed a bundle to do it, they told me tethering was strictly against their Ts and Cs and if I did it I risked getting charged at £3.00 per MB. I had this information confirmed by the CEOs office.

 

[Small White Car]

I have not signed the new contract !

You signed an original contract saying tethering is not allowed. So you agreed at the time that you don't get tethering. So you're currently getting what you agreed to. No problem so far.

nor will I with those conditions in place !

And that's fine. That's also the end of your complaint. You don't like what they're offering so you didn't buy it.

That's your right as a consumer and you excersized that right. What else is there to take to court?

My main point is that O2 look like they are in breach of UK law regarding the advertising of this and the current wording!

I guess I'm just not sure what "current wording" you're talking about. Are they running an ad somewhere saying "free tethering" or something like that? I guess I'm just confused since no one has pointed to anything like that.

 

[jmmo20]

How exactly are they going to know you're tethering - that's what I meant. As far as I can tell, there is no way to determine whether your iPhone is directly using the data or an external device connected through the iPhone is using the data.

that's what i've been asking to those with the GM.

in theory Apple could be usign a different APN (cellular server) to connect to the internet while using the tethering option.

Say.. when you use data from the iphone, you're connected thru "iphone.o2.co.uk" .. but when you activate tethering, a new connection is established thru "internet.o2.co.uk" or something like that.

not sure, it's just my hypothesis.. otherwise I don't see how could your operator know you're tethering.

 

[vialli25]

I'm pretty sure some of you don't quite understand tethering.

Tethering is simply using the data connection from the phone, but then transferring it over bluetooth to a laptop and displaying the webpage on the laptop screen instead of the phones.

Therefore, there should be no extra charges for it. And there aren't usually on any other phones and networks! If you have unlimited data, then you have unlimited data, whether you're using it on the phone or on the laptop.

How can O2 justify charging £15 per month for someone to bluetooth their iphones unlimited data to their laptop? It makes no difference to O2 what device the web pages are being loaded up on!!!

I believe they're using people's naivety to earn extra revenue.

This one act of greediness and sheer unfairness by O2 may actually stop me from buying an iPhone.

It is quite ridiculous, I was using tethering on my old SE K800i about 3 years ago. I can't understand how they have the balls to charge for something like this now.

For those of you still not convinced that tethering should not cost extra let me put it to you this way.

Charging £15 per month for tethering, is like charging £15 per month to listen to the music from your ipod on loudspeakers instead of the supplied earphones!

 

[Phil A.]

I'm pretty sure some of you don't quite understand tethering.

Tethering is simply using the data connection from the phone, but then transferring it over bluetooth to a laptop and displaying the webpage on the laptop screen instead of the phones.

Therefore, there should be no extra charges for it. And there aren't usually on any other phones and networks! If you have unlimited data, then you have unlimited data, whether you're using it on the phone or on the laptop.

How can O2 justify charging £15 per month for someone to bluetooth their iphones unlimited data to their laptop? It makes no difference to O2 what device the web pages are being loaded up on!!!

I believe they're using people's naivety to earn extra revenue.

This one act of greediness and sheer unfairness by O2 may actually stop me from buying an iPhone.

It is quite ridiculous, I was using tethering on my old SE K800i about 3 years ago. I can't understand how they have the balls to charge for something like this now.

For those of you still not convinced that tethering should not cost extra let me put it to you this way.

Charging £15 per month for tethering, is like charging £15 per month to listen to the music from your ipod on loudspeakers instead of the supplied earphones!

It's actually very common to charge extra for tethering rather than on-device use of mobile data and there have been quite a few high profile cases where people have got bills of thousands of pounds through tethering.
here is just one example

 

[MojoWill]

I used to work for t-mobile and it was only £5 extra if you wanted to use your Device as a modem however, it always worked without paying the extra, they have no idea how you are connecting and plus you can modify the APN manually becuase PAYG will have to use a different APN so just use the general o2 APN for connecting to the net, they will never know.

If it was an extra £5 for 1or 2 GB i'd be happy as it is very occasionally that you will need to tether but a min of £15 is WAYYYYY to much I'll get a PAYG vodafone dongle like £25 and comes with 1GB usage then its like £10 or something for a GB

 

[vialli25]

It's actually very common to charge extra for tethering rather than on-device use of mobile data and there have been quite a few high profile cases where people have got bills of thousands of pounds through tethering.
here is just one example

Maybe in America, but I've not heard of being charged for tethering in the UK before.

In response to your example, this isn't exactly the same. I'd expect to run up a huge bill if I was downloading music and applications from the net using my phones connection, even if I was using the phone to do it. Anyone who does that is pretty dumb.

But surely you see my point, if browsing Google is free on the iPhone, then why should it cost extra to view the same page, incurring the same data usage, on my laptop?

 

[vialli25]

I used to work for t-mobile and it was only £5 extra if you wanted to use your Device as a modem however, it always worked without paying the extra, they have no idea how you are connecting and plus you can modify the APN manually becuase PAYG will have to use a different APN so just use the general o2 APN for connecting to the net, they will never know.

If it was an extra £5 for 1or 2 GB i'd be happy as it is very occasionally that you will need to tether but a min of £15 is WAYYYYY to much I'll get a PAYG vodafone dongle like £25 and comes with 1GB usage then its like £10 or something for a GB

Maybe I was just being spoilt with 3. Or I just never got caught?! lol

 

[Spanky Deluxe]

Don't bother with O2's tethering charges. Just get a Three Pay As You Go Dongle. Might cost extra to set up (£29.99 for the dongle) but then its only £10 a month for 1GB use. I got myself one when we moved to a new home last year. I don't top it up every month but if I'm somewhere where I want to use it then I'll top it up for basically the same cost as access to a wifi hotspot would be for one day - lets me use it for the rest of the month too.

 

[Phil A.]

Maybe in America, but I've not heard of being charged for tethering in the UK before.

In response to your example, this isn't exactly the same. I'd expect to run up a huge bill if I was downloading music and applications from the net using my phones connection, even if I was using the phone to do it. Anyone who does that is pretty dumb.

But surely you see my point, if browsing Google is free on the iPhone, then why should it cost extra to view the same page, incurring the same data usage, on my laptop?

I completely agree with your point, but unfortunately the carriers don't.
IIRC, T-Mobile really started the trend with their £10 web 'n' walk package that was heavily advertised but only applied to access directly from the device: Any form of tethering incurred an extra charge. Once the other carriers saw this, they jumped on the bandwagon. Orange don't charge extra for tethering but I believe 3 do and T-Mobile do (and obviously, O2 do!)

 

[vialli25]

I did a quick search and couldn't find anything related to tethering on the 3 website, so maybe they don't care if you do it or not, as I said before, it makes no difference to them. I don't think Vodafone charge you extra either, they just tell you to be careful of their fair usage policy.

Obviously I understand why O2 are doing this from a business perspective, but from a consumer's perspective it is extremely unfair.

Hopefully, if enough people kick up a fuss about it they'll rethink their cunning plan.

 

[samab]

I'm pretty sure some of you don't quite understand tethering.

The first thing is that 99.999% of the contracts said that you are getting "mobile web" or "mobile internet" --- even if your phone has a full browser. "Mobile Internet" is defined as WAP and tethering ain't WAP.

 

[samab]

I still don't see why O2 have allowed tethering with all its other phones for years..

O2 also allowed you to get unlocking codes for years too --- even though (after they launched the iphone) that Brits found out that there are no ofcom regulation on simlocking.

They don't enforce those rules --- don't mean that those rules aren't there in your contract, that those rules are perfectly legal to enforce, and that ofcom and trading standards can't do a single thing to help you.

 

[iSimx]

Hopefully, if enough people kick up a fuss about it they'll rethink their cunning plan.

yes, we can only hope