O2 removes 200MB Fair-Use policy for UK iPhone
There's been a fair bit of debate (and disappointment) with the O2 200 megabyte 'Fair-Use' data transfer policy that was expected to appear with the U.K. iPhone contracts this Friday. Thankfully, it seems O2 has heard us: late last night, the Telegraph newspaper revealed that O2 has now scrapped the limit on just how much data we will be able to burn through. Although the Telegraph refers to a "200 megabit" limit, as far as we know the limit actually was measured in megabytes. O2's terms and conditions page now says:
"There is no limit on the monthly network usage. However if we feel that your activities are so excessive that other customers are detrimentally affected, we may give you a written warning (by email or otherwise). In extreme circumstances, if the levels of activity do not immediately decrease after the warning, we may terminate or suspend your Services."
Surprised that O2 has come full circle? We are too, but we're also very glad to see that they're listening to their potential customers (even if using the phone as a modem is unsurprisingly against the terms of your contract). If you're wondering about the story behind the Apple / O2 partnership, there's also a fascinating insight to the deal found on the Telegraph website.
The iPhone goes on sale at 6:02pm on Friday (seriously - did O2 really need another plug?).
Thanks Dom!
![TUAW [Cafepress]](http://www.blogsmithmedia.com/www.tuaw.com/media/tuaw-cafepress-promo.png)
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 3)
shaun said 6:20PM on 11-04-2007
I think I'm being incredibily dumb but why is 6.02pm a plug?
Reply
Nik Fletcher said 6:22PM on 11-04-2007
"Six oh-two launch. Only on oh-two."
I know it's lame, but the O2 marketing folks seem to be going for it....
Nik
Reply
Francis said 6:23PM on 11-04-2007
The network's called "O2".
Reply
Al said 6:24PM on 11-04-2007
Shaun, 6 *o2* ?
Reply
JD said 6:48PM on 11-04-2007
Wish they'd increase the pitiful 200 / 200 allowance on the £35 tariff :(
Reply
Damien said 7:07PM on 11-04-2007
WOOOP Canterbury.
Does it make me sad that I know where that picture was taken based on the reflections.
Reply
Richard said 7:17PM on 11-04-2007
The subject line for this post should read "O2 removes 200Mb Fair-Use policy for UK iPhone". There's a huge difference between 200 Mb (megabits) and 200 MB (megabytes).
Reply
jerome said 8:33PM on 11-04-2007
Ms Sadun et al should take note of the news of 1.1.2 from the UK reviewers, and its closing of the TIFF exploit. As of friday, jailbreaks are dead again for a while (if you are hankering for canotnese keyboards etc.)
Reply
MrShabby said 8:57PM on 11-04-2007
18 month contract at a minimum of £35 a month then a £270 for the iPhone on top of that.
Only overpaid Footballers and London centric city boys can afford this. For regular people this is silly money for a phone.
Reply
Scott F said 9:06PM on 11-04-2007
As for the 6 in 6:02....well, which number looks closest to an Apple logo?
Reply
DBrim said 9:14PM on 11-04-2007
Love the hair, Nik :)
Reply
smirkiston said 10:54PM on 11-04-2007
I wonder who made the poster? They used the wrong typeface. That's not like Apple to do that.
Reply
Fritz Laurel said 10:58PM on 11-04-2007
Seriously, how can they advertise "unlimited" when there's a limit? Am I missing something? In the states, this would be actionable. Does the UK not have any comparable laws against false advertising? Just curious.
Cheers,
FL
Reply
mare said 11:02PM on 11-04-2007
Now let's see if the even more strict data limits of the German iPhone provider also will be scrapped. Maybe Apple is, behind the scenes, instrumental here.
Reply
Rick said 11:21PM on 11-04-2007
Lame?
what do we make of the handy fire extinguisher ? and, lame fairy lights?
Reply
mail said 2:42AM on 11-05-2007
@FL:
Every Telco and ISP in the country does it. Its like the Up to 16Mb broadband, when users actually get about 2Mb. Users are finally starting to wake up to this now and start complaining, so hopefully we'll see a change in these tactics in the next few months.
I am however glad to see O2 drop the FUP, now I just need to ring Disconnections and get them to discount that £45 package for me ;-).
-Dakaix
Reply
abe said 2:58AM on 11-05-2007
remember people this is also suppose to be a phone !
and as such the packages are waay to overprices !
£35 for 200mins?!?! are you kidding!
Reply
JeromeOD said 3:10AM on 11-05-2007
"abe" and "mrshabby" continue to not get it, don't they? "mew mew 200mins for £35!" AND UNLIMITED DATA. You hear that? UNLIMITED DATA! I could also go on about why people will pay for an iPhone over getting a N95 for "free" but it'd be pointless, as such beings seem to think that because a Nokia PAYG phone can do MMS and has a camera and play MP3s, it's the same thing. I'm going to save so much money per month on my mobile data bills, the iPhones will pay for themselves in 6 months.
Reply
w00t said 3:13AM on 11-05-2007
Now, everyone is moaning that the iPhone is really really expensive on o2 but what they fail to take into account is the fact that the iPhone plan comes (now) with unlimited data.
£35 a month is alright value for 200/200 and unlimited data.
£45 a month is good value for 600/500 plus the data and wifi package.
I currently have a blackberry pearl and pay around £45-50 a month, which includes a £35 call plan (600mins/100 + 400sms) and a measly 'unlimited' (read 75mb fair use) data plan on the poxy slow browser.
I priced up a similar plan on Vodafone, £42.50 for 500/500 and 125mb limit data. 100 mins less and tiny data cap.
Slightly better from three... 1GB tacks on £10, 3gb is £15
T-Mobile data (1GB) is £7.50 but the equal price plan is £37.50 so on par
Orange trails far far behind with a measly 8MB (!!) for £11.50 a month on top of the huge £45 a month for 600/100 (!!!) making it a whopping £56.50 for a plan that's far worse than o2, and you don't get to choose the best phone ;)
So you see, o2 has priced it on par with the market, which is pretty good since they have to share the revenue!
Reply
Alan Francis said 4:24AM on 11-05-2007
" (even if using the phone as a modem is unsurprisingly against the terms of your contract)"
According to the Apple Store, it's not even possible. I use my Nokia N70 as a Bluetooth/GPRS Modem every day, and the lack of support for that feature is what's keeping me from opening my wallet n the usual fashion. The technolust is strong, but it'd be a real technological step backwards from my current phone.
The cellphone world in Europe is light years ahead of that in the US. A phone that looks advanced over there looks pretty primitive over here (in terms of features, obviously, not UI) .
Alan
Reply