Went to O2 and Apple Store in Birmingham an asked about PAYG and unlocking iPhone

[SimonTheSoundMa]

I had a good chat with the guys in O2 store in Birmingham today to clear a few questions I had in my head.

I asked:

"I'm an O2 customer on PAYG, and I would like to buy an iPhone. I cannot afford the contracts being a student, so can I keep my PAYG tariff?"

Answer: "Yes you can stay on PAYG, however you will not get unlimited web via phone or wi-fi..."



A little later on I found PAYG will be available, for example, to those that have poor credit ratings, or those that just don't want the contract. Also, O2 will unlock your iPhone as all phones in the UK have to unlocked, so you could switch networks if you wanted. You can buy the handset, they checked and it is NOT subsidised by the contract so no extra fees, they said if I buy they will set up the phone (just remove the SIM that comes with it and put my old one in and register it to the iPhone, you can either activate yourself via iTunes or in O2 stores).



I have free Cloud/Openzone with BT Internet, which in Birmingham and areas around has these wi-fi network.


Oh, and Apple Store were clueless. Some staff by 2PM didn't even know about the iPhone coming to the UK, let alone manage to answer my question.

 

[ynnoj]

Interesting.

Did they mention whether or not the Visual Voicemail would function or not?

 

[ksolano]

man, this is interesting!!

if this is true, then i can get an "Offical" unlock off the apple store and make it run on my orange sim? or will it have to be on O2 pay as you go?

 

[gnasher729]

Oh, and Apple Store were clueless. Some staff by 2PM didn't even know about the iPhone coming to the UK, let alone manage to answer my question.

Why should they know about it at 2pm today? Their job is to sell Macs and iPods and help customers, not to read MacRumors. I expect them to know about iPhones some time in November, but there is no reason they should know about it much earlier.

 

[Project]

You do have to ask yourself... what is the point of the carrier deal and unnecessary 18 month lock-in?

 

[Kardashian]

Whilst I would love all of the above to be true, and I am not doubting for a second you have been told whats written above, I am a bit weary of it all.

Firstly, UK carriers are under some kind of law, I believe obliged to unlock your phone for a fee. Three charge up to £450 for this code, Voda is a standard £20, T-Mobile is £15, and Orange also £15 I believe.

O2 should be something within the same price range, but it can differ from handset to handset.

Secondly, a Pay As You Go iPhone would be a brilliant idea - its one of the main points I made about no one mentioning it at the launch.

However, unlike the US version of the Pay as you Go iPhone, ours is likely to be hiked up in price... a lot.

For example, check out the prices of the latest contract phones - they're all free. The same thing on pay as you go? Anything up to £400.

I hope they release a Pay as you Go version for no more than £350.

 

[ynnoj]

Provided the latest software is hackable, just unlock it yourself.

What advantages does unlocking it through your provider have?

 

[npdale]

so O2 HAVE TO unlock the phone for you?

Is this right? I'm truly amazed as it makes the whole process totally pointless... I do need to know about the visual voicemail tho... this is really beginning to bug me - im not sure why you can't use it on an unlocked iphone...

:S

 

[Cromulent]

so O2 HAVE TO unlock the phone for you?

Is this right? I'm truly amazed as it makes the whole process totally pointless... I do need to know about the visual voicemail tho... this is really beginning to bug me - im not sure why you can't use it on an unlocked iphone...

:S

Because it is a network specific feature.

 

[adamyoshida]

Well, if O2 is going to be unlocking them legitimately, then the game's up. Not only will the Devteam folks be able to see how it's unlocked - but they're going to be offering them unlocked elsewhere, then. They'll break the hacks, but they're not going to do anything really weird about the unlocks, as some have been fearing.

 

[SimonTheSoundMa]

Phone have to have the ability to be unlocked by law in the UK.

 

[ksolano]

so? Apple cant break these unlocks in firmwear updates because they will be breaking the law? this is very slippery ground we're talking about.
Anyone know for sure?

 

[Spanky Deluxe]

I wouldn't expect a Pay&Go iPhone to cost any more than a normal one. For those phones that are subsidised sure they can cost more but the iPhone is *not* subsidised so no extra cost.

While this may be all well and good, I'm sure the iPhone will absolutely murder any payasyougo tariff simply because of data use. The iPhone's designed to be a data hore. The pay-as-you-go tariffs may be able to deal with your basic WAP on a cheapo Nokia, however, data usage racks up big time when you browse a web page. You're typical web page is usually around 100kb these days. 10 web pages = 1MB. O2 currently charge £3 per MB. 30 pence per web page is a pricey affair.

I've spent quite a bit of time in Uni now and most of the people I knew were on contracts, only a few of them were on pay as you go and they ended up paying quite a bit per month. If a student can afford to pay £279 for a mobile phone then surely £35 or £45 a month isn't too much to handle? If parents are the ones that end up paying the bill then you can always try to get the £45 deal safe in the knowledge that your monthly bill will (should) never be over £45. All data, voice and texts is included. Just if you are a student, make sure not to get the £35 deal. In my experience, living away from home + loads of friends on all sorts of networks means that anytime minutes = priceless.