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UK Carriers Launch Subsidized iPad Sales With Two-Year Data Contracts
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I'm still baffled why Apple have given us Brits such freedom and choice when it comes to iPhone/iPad carriers, yet the US struggle along with only AT&T as their only option.
I bought my iPhone 4 SIM free from Apple and have tried Orange, O2, and am now currently with Vodafone (all PAYG).
Strange on Apples part to have such variations.
Well, we all run on GSM over here for one thing. The iPhones can all work on T-Mobile USA but NOT 3G because of the frequency it runs on. Verizon, Virgin Mobile etc are all CDMA which the iPhone does not support. So really, there is no alternative at the moment unless you can deal with EDGE speeds on T-Mobile (which a lot of people do) or Apple brings out CDMA equipped phones.
I don't think it's that strange, I mean imagine going on a trip and you know you're going to have to wait a lot at the station or whatever, so you buy a 500 MB allowance for that day to rent an iTunes movie or something. But 500 MB wouldn't even be enough to watch a streaming movie from iTunes actually!
I think it makes sense, and it makes sense to be £2 a day (not Dollars) given that you would rarely use such a one-day allowance anyway.
Not much choice --- because Brits don't have ETF, let alone pro-rated ETF.
Brits have the choice of leaving their current carriers --- only by paying off the rest of their contracts off.
Every time there's an article about data in other countries it's funny to see the salivating responses from people here in the US. We created this mess by having only one national (yeah T-Mo is there, but not really) GSM carrier... almost any other country's data is half the price as ours, not to mention has many options (note, how much would AT&T charge for one day of ipad data prepaid? $3? I think NOT)... like pay by the day, pay by the week, etc. In the UK the system is great. I bought my Factory Unlocked iPhone 4 there, and when I go I just grab an O2 sim, load $10 and I'm good for all the calls and data I need while I'm there. While O2's coverage is pretty solid, if it doesn't work, I pop it out, pop in a different carrier's sim and I'm up and running, simple as that. Imagine if the US worked like that how many people would be able to experience the iPhone and iPad in all their glory! Instead people have a sub-par experience and it gives a negative image to apple (antennaegate?). If AT&T's network wasn't borderline cr@p, the antennae issue would be a non-issue (like in the UK there's no issue cause their carriers are good), but since AT&T is borderline unusable as it is, the antennae just makes things a little worse, causing discontent and people point to Apple. Such a pitty.
We'll get there one day. Unfortunately the US Government really runs the show with the cell networks so it's hard for them to get where they need to be without going through so much regulatory\blah blah blah. Hence why I can get 5 mbps in Cebu City (a remote island in the Philippines on Globe Telecom's network) yet I can't get 1 mbps sitting at home in downtown San Francisco on AT&T... BOO!
We'll get there one day. Unfortunately the US Government really runs the show with the cell networks so it's hard for them to get where they need to be without going through so much regulatory\blah blah blah. Hence why I can get 5 mbps in Cebu City (a remote island in the Philippines on Globe Telecom's network) yet I can't get 1 mbps sitting at home in downtown San Francisco on AT&T... BOO!
I think it's fair to say that your milage may vary when you look to a mobile operator for coverage.
With Three, T-Mobile and Orange all sharing radio networks soon (3 tmo now, orange later) we should have an excellent way to operate as the difference will be services based, and tariff based - not coverage based (hopefully)
Some people get good Three and some people good Orange or O2. Although that said no-one on O2 gets good data throughput ;-)
With Three, T-Mobile and Orange all sharing radio networks soon (3 tmo now, orange later) we should have an excellent way to operate as the difference will be services based, and tariff based - not coverage based (hopefully)
Some people get good Three and some people good Orange or O2. Although that said no-one on O2 gets good data throughput ;-)
It beats me why anyone would get excited about these "deals", they're absolutely shockingly overpriced. But, hey, mobile companies have publicly admitted being unscrupulous and are ready to screw over customers in any which way they can. The customers are also lousy at spotting a bad deal, even when it's as obvious as this.
The £324 you'll be paying over 2 years for a lousy 1GB data should be ringing alarm bells already. Minus the iPad cost, that's over £13/month of inescapable contract for something you can get for £7.50 with absolutely no ties bar a 1 month notice cancellation period.
If you want a subsidised iPad *BUY IT ON FINANCE DIRECTLY FROM APPLE*
Argh!
The £324 you'll be paying over 2 years for a lousy 1GB data should be ringing alarm bells already. Minus the iPad cost, that's over £13/month of inescapable contract for something you can get for £7.50 with absolutely no ties bar a 1 month notice cancellation period.
If you want a subsidised iPad *BUY IT ON FINANCE DIRECTLY FROM APPLE*
Argh!
Here in Canada, the only way to get a subsidized iPhone with any of our carriers is on a 3-year contract.
Here in Canada, the only way to get a subsidized iPhone with any of our carriers is on a 3-year contract.
Which is exactly why on my year placement I decided not to buy. I could afford to buy it sim free but not the overpriced month to month plans when compared to the UK. So got an iPod Touch instead around $60 than the UK thanks to the tax difference. Sticking with the iPhone 3G for another year.
It depends if you are talking about 3G data usage or voice. O2 and Voda are much better than the other networks in terms of overall UK voice coverage in my experience, with a few exceptions in certain rural areas. I travel the whole of the UK with work (Scotland, Wales, and England).
3's 3G network is by far the best, they're coverage map based on Offcom research proves that too. My work phone and personal phone are both on O2, my iPad is with Orange (good 3G coverage), and my work dongle is O2. O2's 3G data is just terrible, honestly it's shockingly bad. Vodas is better but still poor. Orange is good, but 3's is definitely the best by far. The main reason I"m with Orange is because of the added benefit of the WiFi bundle. That never seems to work most of the time, so I might switch to 3 for the iPad
Your information is most definitely wrong when you're talking about 3G coverage
I agree wholeheartedly. I was with 3 for a few years and have regretted dumping my contract. I was being charged £5/month for a £30 tariff due to being a preferred customer (something they say if you happen to spend a lot and then decide to leave). It was a brilliant deal but for some reason I wanted to move over to 02. Anyway, I'm now back with 3 with my new iPhone. My micro-sim only deal for £15/month gets me a lot of data, free skype, msn, unlimited txts etc.
According to 3's website, their network is;
Rated No.1 network for Mobile Broadband - rated best for speed, reliability and value.
Rated No.1 network for iPhone - rated best for internet speed, coverage, connectivity and reliability.
Rated No.1 network for mobile internet speed and value by smartphone users.
Also, in an independent research study by YouGov, 3 were rated No.1 network for iPhone, best for internet speed, connectivity and reliability.
So, don't believe all the anti-3 remarks. Five or so years ago you could argue they weren't the best. But they've clearly upped their game since then.
And no, I don't work for 3!
Not to mention the prices. You Brits have such reasonable data plans. When I was looking at smartphones, Verizon wanted $69 per month for data + $29 for voice. That's ~$100 (or ~64 pounds) per month. Screw that.
Ok, i suppose i should have phrased that better lol.
I live in Lincoln, and for data usage, 3 is terrible, with O2 being the best, followed by orange. I am surprised though, as i had worked in a phone shop for 18 months until September, and always got told horror stories of 3.
I suppose for the 3G 32gb iPad of mine, I'd go on Orange, but it is Sim Free, so i could try all of them out.
I live in Lincoln, and for data usage, 3 is terrible, with O2 being the best, followed by orange. I am surprised though, as i had worked in a phone shop for 18 months until September, and always got told horror stories of 3.
I suppose for the 3G 32gb iPad of mine, I'd go on Orange, but it is Sim Free, so i could try all of them out.
Vodafone claims they have a superior network compared to the rest which is why they charge at higher prices and people buy into it.
That's what they 'claim' but not what Ofcom actually found. The important bit for data is 3G coverage and 3 are simply the best at that. They're rubbish at 2G as they piggyback off of Orange for that.
Anyway, I think you're all mad. Buy the WiFi only version and a cheap second hand or refurb Nokia Symbian phone (E71 or something like that with a huge 1500mAh battery in it). Stick Joikuspot on it and use it as a MiFi style hotspot. You pay over the odds for any of these iPhone/iPad only deals. It's like the carriers add a fiver just because you're sticking the SIM in an Apple product.
Maybe it is just me but I do not understand what is wrong with people.
I have 32g wifi ipad.
And a contract on my Phone from DNA Finland it is 9 a month for 100 calls and 50 texts.
This plus my 8gb Broadband line 30
Nobody needs to be connected any more than this, lets face we are really not that important to need any more than this.
The want for more connectivity stems from the fact that we feel we must be connected at all times to everything, it is simply not true and if you feel this way you are lacking in some other area of your life and need help.
I have 32g wifi ipad.
And a contract on my Phone from DNA Finland it is 9 a month for 100 calls and 50 texts.
This plus my 8gb Broadband line 30
Nobody needs to be connected any more than this, lets face we are really not that important to need any more than this.
The want for more connectivity stems from the fact that we feel we must be connected at all times to everything, it is simply not true and if you feel this way you are lacking in some other area of your life and need help.
You might not need to be connected all of the time, but I do! lol
when I'm working out and about, I can be driving up to 10 hours plus a day. I might not be in a place that has wifi or 3G coverage when I get there. So the ability to be downloading e mails on the go, or simply to be able to pull off on the side of the road and google something or check google maps, is invaluable and saves me time.
I constantly run out of time to complete the tasks I need to do in my workin day, being dissconnected would mean that I'd have even less time.
Using a Mifi or phone sync would work, but I'd have to leave the tether active all the time to get the same benefit, and that would simply kill the phone's battery. It would also impact on the iPads battery life
Horses for courses, it just depends on whether you want the convenience of being connected all of the time. If you bought what you 'need' like many people mistakingly think purchasing decisions are made upon, you'd have basic clothes, a basic car, basic phone, and probably be using Linux on a really old machine and lug a huge battery pack around with you to keep the thing charged. we buy what we want and use our needs to justify what we want.
Simply I want something that is different to what you want from the device, maybe that means there's something wrong with me
I'm on O2 with my iPhone 3GS. I'm on a 3 mifi for sharing between devices including my iPad. I get better signal coverage with 3. To and from London and in my kitchen.
Many people's iPhones are on a 24 month plan, what's the beef? The price differences are not that huge if you compare a iPad 3G bought outright against one of these.
Only if you have a contract
If you're on pay-as-you-go, you just switch whenever you want. You don't get a subsidy on the price of the phone/device, however.
If you're on pay-as-you-go, you just switch whenever you want. You don't get a subsidy on the price of the phone/device, however.
I wish giffgaff had data plans for the iPad, as that'd be really cheap. Their current mobile prices are pretty cheap too. 150 minutes, truly unlimited texts and truly unlimited internet (no fair use policies) for just £10/$15 a month. Can't really be beaten without a contract. They say you can't use it in an iPad, but it's only PAYG, so you could say it's worth the risk if you'd like.
(PM me for more info UKians if you'd like)
(PM me for more info UKians if you'd like
)