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Orange Announces UK Data Pricing for iPad

Europe Dives

The way things are going in Europe the UK rate plan COULD turn out to be next to FREE in US terms. The pound could reach par with the dollar (1 pound = 1 dollar) Look out below!!
 
Orange have always gouged on price per gb, this doesn't surprise me at all. As much as I absolutely despise 'hutchinson 3G' you have to admit they're the cheapest game in town. I actually admire them for not getting in on this "unlimited" data ********.
 
I love the day/week options- I wish we had that option here in the US. The problem is, I already spend money on broadband and an iPhone plan every month. The absolute last thing I need is to spend yet another $360 a year (plus taxes) on DATA.

However, there are a couple times a year when it might be nice to have the option. For example, staying in an area w/o WiFi or something.

Of course, the reality of it is that I wouldn't even by a 3G iPad, even if we had the day/week options. Just not worth the extra money for using it a couple times a year, especially when I already have an iPhone with 3G access for those times I really need it.
 
I love the daily tariff!

I think these prices are as fair as can be expected. I think £2 for a day is going to be very popular. I always wanted to tether my laptop to my iPhone when out but they only offered monthly tariffs. I think most people will take there iPads out occasionally and £2 a day is nothing a few times a month. I think I will still use MyWi to get around this as I already pay for my 3G via my iPhone contract.
 
Let me get this straight Orange are charging £25 a month for 10GB Data, WTF I can get Unlimited Data for £10 a month... damn O2 better be better than this or I won't buy an iPad and just get the new iPhone when it comes out.
 
Not good UK prices and I'm not sure I would hold out much hope that the other providers will blow these Orange plans out of the water. Despite the competition we have here with O2, Tesco/O2, Vodaphone, Orange and T-Mobile all offering the iPhone, the contract price variances are pretty minimal between the lot of them. Expensive as they may seem, I think they cut prices on Apple products to the bone just to get the custom so there is not really much wiggle room for them.

It's ironic how competition has actually hindered us in the UK to an extent. I think the reason that AT&T can offer such an attractive plan in the States is as a sop to Apple to encourage them to retain iPhone exclusivity. The various providers here have no similar motivation.

I'm going to imagine that the vast majority of iPad UK sales in the first 6 months will be wi-fi only. Most sales will be to early adopters who are much more likely to be Apple customers already and many will have an iPhone - thus this same data paid for already.

Where I think the 3G version might claw back a little ground in the longer term is when the providers start to use iPad data allowances as another tool to get users to sign up for lucrative iPhone contracts. Just now they juggle combinations of minutes, texts and iPhone data to try and create packages distinct from other providers. Being able to dangle iPad data deals as part of an integrated all in one contract gives them another arrow in their quiver to tailor new deals for consumers.

I think we will only start to see this when there has been some decent iPad penetration in the UK market, that could be 6-12 months off.
 
The usual piss-poor offerings from Zero-range.
What's the betting O2 and Voda come out with similarly piss-poor tariffs.
 
Maleficent said:
Not very impressive.

3 for example are doing £5/mo for an unlimited internet sim only deal. I *know* they aren't the best for coverage etc etc and apparently it's subject to a fair usage of 1GB but still...it's better than £7.50/week.
Click to expand...

If it's a 3G network you need, Three actually have the best coverage according to Ofcomm. I'm on Three and I'm rarely out of 3G coverage even out here in the South Pennines.

For the few times I need a 3G connection on my laptop I usually just set up a wifi-3G hotspot using JoikuSpot on my £15 a month Nokia. That does for me without paying again and again for data plans on every device. It's technically not allowed by Three's T&Cs but they don't seem to care.
 
What I want to know is: When I travel to the UK can I purchase a weeks plan using my existing ATT sim card? Alternatively, can I purchase a sim card from Orange with bandwidth on it, if so how much?
 
Do does this mean someone from the US can pick up a Orange SIM at the airport in the UK and be online without AT&T roaming? The iPad is UNLOCKED.... right?
 
peewit106 said:
£429 for the basic model equates (today) to $629 - just for anyone who is interested.
Click to expand...

Sorry, but your quote is way off. The UK price includes VAT, so to compare £/$ pricing, you have to take off the VAT then convert to US$, like so:

Col 1 —> UK £ incl VAT
Col 2 —> UK £ excl VAT
Col 3 —> Eq $ Price against UK £ excl VAT
Col 4 —> US $ Pricing
Col 5 —> Diff $
Col 6 —> Diff £

16GB WiFi —> 429.00 —> 365.11 —> 553.61 —> 499.00 —> 54.61 —> 36.02
32GB WiFi —> 499.00 —> 424.68 —> 643.94 —> 599.00 —> 44.94 —> 29.64
64GB WiFi —> 599.00 —> 509.79 —> 772.99 —> 699.00 —> 73.99 —> 48.80
16GB 3G+WiFi —> 529.00 —> 450.21 —> 682.66 —> 629.00 —> 53.66 —> 35.39
32GB 3G+WiFi —> 599.00 —> 509.79 —> 772.99 —> 729.00 —> 43.99 —> 29.01
64GB 3G+WiFi —> 699.00 —> 594.89 —> 902.04 —> 829.00 —> 73.04 —> 48.17
----------
BTW, those Orange prices really suck.
 
I wish we (US Ipad customers) has more options when it comes to data plans. I like the current plan/price points if I needed to go 1 month.

I wish they had daily plans, and/or weekly or even weekend plans.

would take away my hesitation from buying data plans.

I'm paying, 80$ for my iphone, 110$ for my home broadband... i'm hesitant on adding another monthly data plan.

I do wish, I can put my iphone plan on $15/250mb/month; then move my ipad to unlimited/monthly.
 
northy124 said:
Let me get this straight Orange are charging £25 a month for 10GB Data, WTF I can get Unlimited Data for £10 a month... damn O2 better be better than this or I won't buy an iPad and just get the new iPhone when it comes out.
Click to expand...

Yeah they're taking the piss slightly...
 
mkjj said:
If you have an iPhone, why not get a iPhone Simplicity Contract for £20pm and get 600 mins, 500 texts and unlimited data?
Click to expand...

Some people [myself included] haven't been in the UK long enough to get any sort of contract--you have to establish credit and an address for at least THREE YEARS. So I have an iPhone, but it HAS to be pay as you go.

Not bad though, I pay the 7.50 for unlimited data (although o2's 3G blows a fat one), and 7.50 for unlimited text & talk to 4 of my closest friends, AND every time I top up I get another 100 free minutes to the US. I only use maybe 3 quid's worth of actual credit a month. So basically I use my iPhone as much as I want for the equivalent of about $30 a month. A HELL of a lot cheaper than the $70ish I was paying stateside.

I think, compared to other data plans, these prices are not great. I found AT&T's pricing for this pretty reasonable. I'll be interested to see what o2 says because I've been waiting on deciding which iPad until I get a look at UK pricing on 3G. Gotta love it being unlocked, I can finally bounce back and forth between countries with ease.
 
HAHAHA this is terrible data pricing for the UK. Are they insane? Even AMERICA has cheaper data prices than this!

I can get unlimited data for about 1/4 that price with other carriers. Do they not know this thing is unlocked?

Step 1. Buy iPad 3G
Step 2. Remove Orange SIM
Step 3. Cut regular SIM smaller with scissors
Step 4. Profit!
 
vertigo235 said:
So if I visit the uk with my us iPad 3G will I be able to use these plans?
Click to expand...

No. But the iPad is unlocked anyway, and you can get much cheaper Pay-and-Go data plans from other carriers. Just get a Pay-and-Go sim card from another carrier when you visit.
 
For those monthly prices I'd be expecting a 'free' ipad...
Ridiculously priced if you you're used to shopping around for mobile contracts.
 
devinci99 said:
I wish we (US Ipad customers) has more options when it comes to data plans. I like the current plan/price points if I needed to go 1 month.
Click to expand...

Are there really no suitable dayly or weekly plans in the US? I think the iPad is unlocked so you could use other SIM cards.

Here in Germany I know several plans that would be very attractive. For example Fonic (prepaid) offers a day for 2,50 Euro but if you use it 10 days during a month the rest of the month is free! (So never more than 25 per month and each day includes a GB....). This is intended for Notebooks so I don't think they would have a problem if you use it for iPad.

Christian
 
fritx said:
The usual piss-poor offerings from Zero-range.
What's the betting O2 and Voda come out with similarly piss-poor tariffs.
Click to expand...

Ditto.

To be polite, Orange tariffs and phones have always had very limited appeal.
Unfortunately, this does nothing to force the other providers to go for a bulk of the market. Maybe it's driven by the high purchase price imposed on the retailers for the iPad (and iPhone), perhaps Apple is the only one making money here.
 
TXCraig said:
Do does this mean someone from the US can pick up a Orange SIM at the airport in the UK and be online without AT&T roaming? The iPad is UNLOCKED.... right?
Click to expand...

In theory, yes. The iPad is unlocked. In practice, it'll depend on if the Orange store in the airport stocks the silly micro-SIM needed for the iPad.

So far only Apple uses the micro-SIM format and they've not released a phone/iPad in the UK using it yet. You can of course carefully cut down a normal SIM from anyone else and there's been various guides to do that on the net.

If I was you though, I'd check out the Three store - 'Unlimited' internet for a month is £5 and includes Skype, Live Messenger and Voicemail even outside the month.
 
aegisdesign said:
In theory, yes. The iPad is unlocked. In practice, it'll depend on if the Orange store in the airport stocks the silly micro-SIM needed for the iPad.

So far only Apple uses the micro-SIM format and they've not released a phone/iPad in the UK using it yet. You can of course carefully cut down a normal SIM from anyone else and there's been various guides to do that on the net.

If I was you though, I'd check out the Three store - 'Unlimited' internet for a month is £5 and includes Skype, Live Messenger and Voicemail even outside the month.
Click to expand...

No problem. Cut it with a knife and go. I think it won't take long until other providers will offer micro SIMs right out of the box.

Christian
 
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