O2 Offered iPhone Contract in UK 178
davidmcg writes "There has been speculation on who will provide the service for iPhone in the UK. Now, the answer has been provided. It seems that O2 has been offered the contract to provide telephony services in the UK for the iPhone. It seems that the iPhone should be available in the UK in time for Christmas. O2 have refused to confirm or deny these reports, so is it yet another unconfirmed iPhone rumor or is it fact? We can only wait to find out."
Apple section? (Score:2, Funny)
What about smaller countries (Score:5, Insightful)
There isn't a single Apple store here. There are 3rd party distributors which sell Apple hardware/software and that's about it. With the kind of deals iPhone is after (tightly integrating the iPhone functionality with a specific provider), I see a big chunk of the world simply denied access to the iPhone (with the exception of illegally imported and hacked units I guess..)
Re:What about smaller countries (Score:4, Insightful)
- peace
- clean water
- clean air
- housing
- electricity
Yes, I do also dream about the slick iPhone, but right now this dream is being tainted by mixed reviews anyway.
And my $499 are better spent buying a new stove anyway...
Being "denied" iPhone is kind of like being "denied" twinkies, oreos or root beer...
Its just a freaking gadget. Your life wont change.
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- peace
- clean water
- clean air
- housing
- electricity
What a cheap spin: if I want iPhone then it must be I don't sympathize with the dying african children! What a monster I am!
Loser.
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A big chunk of the world is denied basic such as:
- peace
- clean water
- clean air
- housing
- electricity
Hey, you live in California too??
- peace: The best reason for War the US has to offer.
- clean water: I sure as hell don't drink it from the tab, and some people here can't even afford to buy drinking water (more expensive then gas)
- clean air: Ever been to LA?
- housing: renting 2 bedroom apt at $2000/month till I can get my $750K 4 bedroom house (no yard).
- electricity: 2 more weeks of heat and no water and
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-You _have_ a tap. Care to walk miles for water every day?
-Beijing "air pollution capital of the world" [guardian.co.uk]
-A valid point
-I heard a report on the BBC today talking about this informal study they're doing on quality of life in Baghdad. All three of the families they are tracking got about an hour a day of electricity this week, and constant electricity supply is in the dim future.
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But really, you thought you actually had to point out to me that Beijing and Bagdad are worse places to live then California?
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It's all piss. It's just a question of how thick you like that piss.
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Making fun of Microsoft and claiming how OSX will take over the world is kinda funny put in perspective (they're not even actively selling outside of few select co
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There are lots of companies which handle Apple products, you just have to open your eyes to find them.
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With a population not quite as numerous as California, I would have to say that, yes, Canada is a small country.
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Announcing things before Steve Jobs does.... (Score:4, Insightful)
3G for Europe? (Score:5, Informative)
Re:3G for Europe? (Score:4, Insightful)
And in case you now think I'm some sort of Luddite, I bought one of those credit card-sized LCD personal organiser databanks from the Innovations Catalogue when I was 14.
Re:3G for Europe? (Score:4, Interesting)
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£8 is US$16.14 at current rates. Or $193.68/year.
Re:3G for Europe? (Score:5, Funny)
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I laughed out loud at the recent Vodafone adverts, with pieces of clocks falling from the sky. I think it claimed something like "The internet has been set free." Of course, all their offering is the exact same deal that T-mobile has been offering for a while now (£1 a day maximum, or £7.50 a month), except that the T-mobile limit is 1GB/month, and the Vodafone limit is 120MB/month.
And maybe it's just me, with this particular Nokia handset and in this particular non-3G cell, but Vodafone's G
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Possible, but I reckon O2 are still more likely because of their more 'business-class' professional image. Never mind the idiot-magnet that is Genie.
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Vodafone currently has the most sensible dedicated data plans at:
- 90 quid for unlimited + up to 250MB EU roaming (look at the T-Mob roaming tariff and you will choke on your breakfast).
- under 50 for unlimited UK use + 8 pounds per up to 50MB day EU roaming in countries with Voda franchises
- 29 for 250MB UK use + 8 pounds per up to 50MB day EU roaming (countries with franchises
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Uh, I did [vodafone.co.uk]. Just to check my figures.
Wrong product actually. Such contracts don't offer voice calls or text messaging, only data. Coming back to the iPhone, considering it's locked down to the extent that you can't use VoIP or IM unless Apple says so, these cards would be inappropriate.
Is that unlimited as in unlimited, or unlimited as in
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First of all, I fail to see why roaming is any more important to the iPhone than to any other phone. Especially as it's not being targeted at business users [att.com].
The iPhone most likely will require a new tariff, yes. But guessing what that tariff might be is pure speculation. The best we can do for an informed guess is to compare the packages offered by the networks at the moment, and basing that speculation on the data-only tariffs offered is ludicrous. You've also got to take into account the price diffe
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While voice roaming in Europe has recently become relatively sane (thanks Nelly), data roaming pricing is obscene and is all over the place. From 10£ per MB for the worst case to nothing or fixed per-day pricing on some voda tariffs.
Apple while pushing the iPhone has so far put great emphasis on the Internet useability. For Europe this means that data roaming from an obscure subject of interest solely to business users, becomes a subject of interest for consumers.
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The attractive data roaming deals you're talking about only apply to Vodafone's data-only tariffs. Have a look at their roaming website [vodafone.co.uk]. As an example, I selected Germany and an Anytime 1000-1200 tariff, and the data roaming charges were £10/MB. Compare with T-mobile [t-mobile.co.uk], which charges £7.50/MB. They're on a relatively even footing.
The iPhone will not come with a data-only tariff. Apple may negotiate for lower data roaming charges instead of the Apple Tax which is included in the AT&T con
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I know what you mean... I was with Orange for about 10 years, and eventually I couldn't wait to get away from them.
They spend their inflated charges on stupid adverts telling you "we treat our existing customers as well as we treat our new ones" . Pfft. No, looks like being a new customer is the only game in town.
I'm now happy with T-Mobile and their unlimited data plan. Monthly bill halved.
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"we treat our existing customers as well as we treat our new ones"
That actually made me laugh out loud. I was an orange pre-pay customer for six years, then a contract customer for a year. I got a letter from the shop I'd purchased the phone from saying I was entitled to an upgrade, since my contract was now up. I went in, and they pointed me to some very small print saying that this offer only applied to people on other plans. I wanted to add more data to my package anyway, so I strolled over to the Orange store, and talked to them. They had a number of offers for
He's right though (Score:2)
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the only problem is its only whilst in the UK, and doesnt include roaming, but while you are in the UK, you can use GPRS/3g, High speed 3g, for almost anything, except VoIP....
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Why do they need exclusive contracts? (Score:5, Insightful)
They dont want the market to change (Score:4, Insightful)
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Re:Why do they need exclusive contracts? (Score:5, Insightful)
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Wrong (Score:2)
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Re:Why do they need exclusive contracts? (Score:4, Interesting)
Like you said, the visual email thing requires a good deal of vendor support. And I imagine a vendor is only going to put forth the effort required if they see a substantial return on that investment.
Likewise, there's a very good possibility that AT&T has paid Apple for exclusive rights to the launch (a two year term). That contract, which could be worth a lot of money, is probably worth more to Apple than any kind of "good will" that might change the market or the sales they missed because of it.
All that being said, in two years they will likely make it "open" and you'll be able to get your iPhone from any vendor. We'll see though.
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Now
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That means that paying $300 for a phone that is unlocked won't force you to pay $50 monthly as well. Besides, a cheap phone is more like $50, and the monthly charges are typically far less than $50 for the cheap plans anyway.
It seems to me like cell phones are incredibly much
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That said, Europe and Australia require it to be possible to remove the locks.
And this is a frontpage article? (Score:3, Insightful)
It seems that the iPhone should be available in the UK in time for Christmas. O2 have refused to confirm or deny these reports, so is it yet another unconfirmed iPhone rumor or is it fact?
Well, how about you RTFA that you yourself linked to, buddy?
1. "Press reports said that O2 is set to sign an exclusive contract shortly and should have the new phones on sale in time for Christmas."
2. "However a spokesman for O2's owner, Spain's Telefonica, said that a deal had not been signed."
Translation: a deal is close, almost on the verge of being done but not yet completed. So, yes, for now, it's an unconfirmed rumour. When all parties have signed on the dotted line, then it will be fact.
Really, how can a story that questions itself make it as a frontpage article?
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I've never seen a journalist question the premise of his own article. Journalists don't write stories that tell us the Widget X will do Function Y and then end their articles asking if we think that it's possible that X will do Y...
OK, if the story title was a question then what follows would be forgiveable, but the title states something as a fact but then goes on
3G? (Score:5, Insightful)
3G chips too power intensive (Score:5, Insightful)
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Re:3G chips too power intensive (Score:5, Informative)
3G chips need more power than EDGE chips, it's just a fact and although there may be advances so that they require less power than they do now, no amount of "arrangement" by Apple is going to speed that up.
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Specific customer demand drives a lot in the electronic component industry. A lot of th
Re:3G chips too power intensive (Score:4, Insightful)
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This phone is REALLY small, has 3G+GSM+Bluetooth, and the battery life is not bad at all. Granted it doesn't have a large screen or fast CPU, but the fact that they can put all that (and TWO cameras, the front one being for video calls) into this tiny form factor and still have good battery life prety much disproves the power excuse...
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Well then Jobs should've looked at a non-GSM provider.. since EVDO uses less power than 1xRTT.
Actually, Jobs should've just taken the battery life hit on GSM anyway.. the fact that all incoming calls go straight to voicemail while Safari is running is ridiculous. This is also probably why iChat is unavailable.. you couldn't be on AIM and use the p
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Wow, that's amazing, given both EV-DO and 1xRTT *are* CDMA standards rather than GSM. So it's like saying "You shouldn't buy a petrol car, given diesel has better fuel economy than hydrogen."
"the fact that all incoming calls go straight to voicemail while Safari is running is ridiculous. This is also probably why iChat is unavailable.. you couldn't be on AIM and use the phone at the same time."
Welcome to 2G mobil
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[1] I wonder if embedding a passive acceleromete
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will apple get around EU laws force the phone to.. (Score:2)
How do you think? (Score:2)
Bottom-line - it'll make little difference to them. They're almost certainly get
Its GSM (Score:2)
European FCC (Score:5, Insightful)
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Speculation vs Fact (Score:3, Informative)
If you believe all the articles you read then apparently O2 have denying winning the contract [tech.co.uk], being quoted as saying "they're just stories without any truth to them". That sounds like a pretty negative statement for a company who is apprently just being hush-hush about being in such a privileged position.
O2 do not have very good 3G coverage in the UK, it seems almost a no-brainer that Vodafone would've won the contract since their infrastructure is superior. There's no EDGE in the UK, so the UK iPhone either has to be 3G, or work over GPRS... the latter doesn't bear thinking about (think Youtube vids downloaded at 3-4KBps).
The smart money is still on Vodafone to win the contract in my opinion, despite these reports, and the UK (maybe Euro) iPhone having 3G support.
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Vodafone pricing is generally just to be laughed at, call charges, data, whatever, they're just way overpriced. O2 aren't that different.
And as for "no edge in the UK", check your facts first. Orange have definitely rolled out an EDGE network, my N73 drops back to that when I'm on ropy 3G coverage.
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O2 & the XDA (Score:3, Insightful)
Oh no, not O2!!! (Score:5, Informative)
I'm with O2, fortunately out of my mandatory lock-in period. I'm not interested in an iPhone, but as soon as I can get my grubby paws on a Nokia E90, I'm jumping ship - probably to T-Mobile. Why? O2's GPRS data charges are extortionate.
You get 100KB for free a month. Last month I had to use my phone for data and I managed to suck down 14441KB. They charged me £27.97 for the privilege. That sucks. ~30 quid for 15MB. I pay less than that for my broadband connection a month and that's capped at 40GB a month.
Mobile data in the UK is rubbish.
/DM
UK part of Europe (Score:3, Insightful)
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Looking at the specs http://www.apple.com/iphone/specs.html [apple.com], the iPhone is quad band. It should work on any network in the UK, except 3 (assuming the euro-iPhone is
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I live in Sheffield (Score:2, Funny)
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Reuters Article [reuters.com]
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That sounds odd, considering that it would seem most reasonable to have one distributor for all of Europe. However, Apple runs 17 iTunes stores in Europe, and neither T-Mobile nor O2 cover the three territories Apple is reported to be targeting with its first volley of iPhones: Germany, France and the UK.
There are some other complications as well, but havin
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Unless you are arguing that the iPhone is so important that it should be considered a basic human need?
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Re:Seconding this. (Score:4, Insightful)
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I don't think you are contradicting each other.
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After all, it was not the US that poured billions of $ into the coffers of crazy frog.