O2's bringing the iPhone to Ireland on March 14th
By Paul Miller 
posted Feb 28th 2008 9:46AM
posted Feb 28th 2008 9:46AM
Update: Some tipsters have pointed out that O2 Ireland makes no mention of Visual Voicemail on its iPhone pages, which is odd considering the fact that O2 UK highlights the feature. It could be a oversight, or it could mean that those unsightly tariffs are, in fact, true highway robbery.
[Thanks to everyone who sent this in]
how many people will really use more than 1GB of data transfer over EDGE in a month? Looking at my iPhone which I have had since June 30, I have only received 459 MB, and sent something like 70MB.
The minutes seem very lacking, though. Does 175 include night and weekend? Does it only count for outgoing calls?
You're not charged for incoming calls/texts on any network in Ireland. Couldn't believe it when I found out that Americans are charged for that.
Americans get charged for incoming calls and texts?
Now thats a rip off. How do networks justify that?
Simply because we don't have the concept of 'mobile numbers' here. My mobile number has a New York number that's indistinguishable from a landline number. It makes a lot of sense to be honest, as I can just give out one number to people.
They give us more minutes. and unlimited nights and weekends. and unlimited calls within the network
Because we don't get screwed on outgoing calls, nor do we get screwed to call mobiles from a landline, nor do we get screwed for any of the other things Europeans get screwed for w/r/t cell phones.
The major advantage to the European cell phone market is you can buy pretty much whatever you want. In America you end up paying $300ish to buy a new unlocked GSM phone off eBay if you want something half-decent.
Is Australia the only country with cap plans? We pay a certain limit (i.e. $29 per month) and we can use (depending on the carrier) up to triple (or more) the amount of what we pay.
Right now on my personal mobile, I pay $29 and get $120 worth of calls (we only pay outgoing), texts, etc while getting $60 worth of calls free when calling a phone on the same carrier. Browsing the network's page + features is mostly free.
The downside is that mobile internet fees are not included and are expensive.
1GB is plenty for the iPhone (it's not like you're going to be downing torrents on EDGE). I never use anywhere near that much.
Still, they should have made it unlimited. It's unlimited in every other country. What gives, O2?
1MB is daft - I easily use my 15MB monthly allowance on a Treo (Vodafone) and that's on gprs, not even edge.
Truly we get screwed over here!
Curious indeed.
For reference, my iPhone (bought sometime in late summer maybe?) says 303MB of EDGE received lifetime, and 3 days, 7 hours of calls. So that's 4740 minutes. Hmm I guess that truly is lifetime. I thought maybe it reset after a firmware upgrade, but 1.1.3 was not that long ago and I don't talk on the phone that much.
It would be hard to break 1GB of EDGE in a month.
Ummm. Ozy. 1GB is like 1000MBs...
wait, wasn't Ireland part of UK? i thought they launched last year?
let me guess... you're american?
They are two different countries.
You are kidding, aren't you?
am, Ireland is not in the UK, that's why it's called the Republic of Ireland!!!!
Actually Meh, the offical name of the country (26 counties) is Ireland. Republic of Ireland is for use in soccer. I'm amazed at the amount of Irish people who don't know that.
iphone in ireland at last, still no news on 3g though.
what was the Republic of Ireland Act 1948? ok, yeah the official name is Ireland, and the official description is the republic of ireland. isn't wikipedia great.
i always find how easy it is to upset the irish by calling ireland part of the uk. if we all called people from texas, california, new mexico, arizona, utah or nevada mexicans i'm sure they wouldn't mind.
Ohh yes, and Denmark is the capital of Sweden? :D
Maybe he's thinking of Northern Ireland (1/6th of the island of Ireland) which IS part of the UK. The Republic of Ireland (5/6th of the island of Ireland) however is an independent country.
They should rename Northern Ireland to , I Can't Believe its not Ireland, to remove confusion. And they could rename Ireland to Ireland Classic.
being from Northern Ireland, it has always amazed me how many people think I'm Irish, rather than British. I didn't think it was that hard a concept to grasp? (although I'm not one of the people who get offended by these labels).
Northern Ireland did get the iPhone at the same time as the rest of the UK.
@PJK "I Can't Believe It's Not Ireland" & "Ireland Classic"
Funniest thing I've read in a year. Laughed out loud.
Cheers!
FYI, the UK isn't a country. Its a kingdom. England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland are countries.
Don't let a scot hear you confuse the two. They're proud of being a separate country.
I can see how it would be confusing for a non-European (or a non-Irish/UKer) that something with the name "Ireland" in it is part of the UK, but another territory with the name Ireland in it is not. I'm sure plenty of people from the continent would have the same confusion.
Sorta like the colloquialism where people from the USA are called "Americans" and then there is confusion when someone from Canada or Mexico or, hell, Chile is called an American.
Bloody Americans, ever since they merged with Mexico and Canada they have no clue of geography. ;-)
it's doomed over here without 3G. Business people will want nothing to do with it without 3G and it's too dear for your average techie nerd.
I totally agree, i can't beliee apple thought it would sell in ireland without 3G
"It sounds like quite the scam compared to O2's iPhone plans in the UK"
Sounds like a job for the IRB to me... just when I thought the bloodshed was over they throw an iPhone into the mix :(
Forget the scam of the data plans - look at the price Apple is charging for the device!
€399 might look like $399 but, in reality, that's $US604.00 for the '8 gigger'.
As ever, the folks on the other side of The Pond get ripped off.
I'm on firmware 1.1.3 and while browsing through my files via OpenSSH I found a folder called TIM_Italy in the carrier folder.
So in Ireland are they going to call it the o'Phone?
Heheheheh thats quality...
Nope, just like in the states they didn't localise to the morbidlyobesePhone.
right...good one..
maybe they can call the 3G version the "f*ckedupteethPhone" when it drops over there....
Missing the mark with the stereotypes, the fucked up teeth is the British.
An acceptable retort would have been alcoholiPhone.
Eh, well, Northern Ireland is part of the UK. (The Republic of) Ireland isn't.
Ok. Now Apple Canada really sucks. Why don't we have our iPhone yet Rogers? Jesus. It was supposed to be here for Christmas, then mid Feb, now ???
Ted Rogers has an ego as big as Steve Jobs (its like looking in a mirror), so the likelihood that these two ever agreeing to a formula to allow the iPhone (with a $60/month all-inclusive Plan) in Canada seems less-than-unlikely.
In case you hadn't noticed the recent news, Rogers has recently announced a 44% increase in profit, mostly on the back of wireless users -
http://www.thestar.com/article/306202
And Rogers would give that up even a portion of that why?
Besides, the iPhone is, like, sooo last year....
;)
Eh yeah... Re: Actually Meh, the offical name of the country (26 counties) is Ireland. Republic of Ireland is for use in soccer. I'm amazed at the amount of Irish people who don't know that. - talk about definitely a Yank like! I'm Irish, from cork boy, yeah the pricing is a bit of a scam alrite, 3 of our 4 networks are 3g, the 4th - meteor is becoming 3g this year.. iPhones have been available 2nd hand, going for the E400 mark since they've been jailbroken, so there's absolutely no incentive to buy one on o2 seeing as you're locked into a contract, so basically anyone who'd have been looking to buy an iphone has already got one.. as regards pricing, on O2, you get free texts to any other mobile or not, and there's none of the getting charged for calls BS that ye have in the states, I couldn't believe it when I was there! Basically no business person is going to get this as blackberrys are fairly rife, and free if you sign up to a contract, jesus like you can get a n95 for E100 on bill so i don't see why you'd be forking out for a phone!- all our phones are massively subsidised here, apple isn't really gonna sell many here when most common phones are free on bill!
Oh and the entire student population is on meteor for the free texts between meteor so no luck there either! unlucky apple!
Sorry if i sound a bit ignorant, but couldn't anyone from Ireland popped over to NI (or anywhere in the UK) and bought an iphone
@technophobe Yeah you're dead right, but if say, I, from the very south of ireland, rang a phone bought in the north, it'd be like ringing england - long distance.
No - although it's one landmass, the networks in Northern Ireland are completely seperate from the Republics. I live close to the border - if I call someone 20minutes away in the North, then I get charged international rates.
Lets review - overpriced, no visual voicemail, charged for voicemail calls, capped download limit, expensive plans and 3G version in the pipeline. I've always wanted an iPhone but I'm not stupid. Ireland is the IT Capital of Europe - nearly every bluechip IT European company headquarters is based here. The iPhone will not sell in it's current state at the current rates.
Sorry Apple!
You can hop up to NI to get an iPhone, and many have. They are separate o2 networks, so it'll still have to be jail broken. For that reason a lot are buying on US holidays / ebay / etc.
"if I call someone 20minutes away in the North, then I get charged international rates."
Then why don't you just drive to his / her place? Seriously, aren't you guys still part of big, happy European family... :)
anyone notice "NO VISUAL VIOCEMAIL" in the tariffs section of the irish O2 website. SUCKS!!!!
Haha, no i'm thinking the same, talk about overpriced load of shite, honstly for 400 lids you'd buy a eee pc and have 80 euros left over for a 3g pay as you go phone! who's gonna actually buy it? - young people/students - no because it's not on payg, and besides they're all meteor, business people - no cos majority are on vodafone, and besides they can get a blackberry - typing even a text is pure crap on the iphone, casual/middle age people - 400 for a phone - are you having a laugh!! and it's not even available on payg - which a significant amount of the population use here. i mean o2 are giving out free sim cards at the moment in colleges and on their website!
No visual voicemail:
Voicemail***
Terms & Conditions
[...]
*** Visual voicemail is not currently supported.
@Y
Irish people are quite the tech-whores (very high penetration of gaming consoles etc., second only to Japan apparently), have more disposable income compared to our British neighbours and see electronic gadgets as quite the social status symbols. Riots will probably break out when it officially is available. After all, we miss the ole riots.
;)
I'd like to also congratulate all the people who ranked the uninformed person who thought the Republic of Ireland was in the U.K. If anything, that person will have at least learnt something today.
It's not that Irish people get offended by being called British (though obviously some do) it's just the incredulous frustration that something so obvious (to us) is still perpetuated by so many elsewhere in the world. I suppose it's the same as people in Northern Ireland who don't get recognised as British.
The fact that Engadget readers are most likely more intelligent than your average Joe to see this perennial error resurface time and time again obviously can irk people.
Maybe the U.N. should announce a "Get Your Nationalities Straight" Day. It's really not that difficult.
For the masses: Canadians are not Americans. Kiwis are not Aussies. Irish people are not British. (Though the term Northern Irish CAN be used for someone in the North so it *is* technically possible to be British AND Irish at the same time though not the other way wround. Scratch all I just said, it is bloody confusing).
:)
Don't worry guys. It's not a scam. EVERYTHING costs more over here.
For us (Brits) and Irish people, distinction between Great Britain, United Kingdom and Republic of Ireland is farly obvious, but we should accept the fact that it is not so clear to other nationalities, as most of them keep making mistakes. I live in England but I am Irish: why should I be upset if someone from the continent calls me "English", anyway?
That said, I hope this poor excuse for a phone fails miserably as it has done over here.
Apple clearly doesn't know how to handle the European mobile phone market, which is much more competitive than in the US: no 3G and not shipping the iPhone to one of the EU's leading markets (Italy) is enough to put people off the thing.
I'm Irish, living in scotland, and one of my friends here had no idea it wasn't part of the UK, tho then again he thought wales was "that bit on top of Ireland" If i were still there i'd probably have it as a second phone, or buy, unlock and use my meteor sim in it, as the contract prices are outrageous, even considering that prices like that are usually higher in Ireland, it'll still sell tho, as said we're tech whores.
Yep, I think all that is said hereis brutally true. The only thing worth mentioning to the readers across the pond is the discrepancies in minimum wages.
Federal minimum wage in the states = $5.85 (Highest state that I can see is $8 in California; an astute move I'm sure given the current economy "I was born to lead, not to read")
Minimum wage in Ireland (across the board) = $13.54
And minimum wage is generally accepted as student/part time work. Double that if you're working in building or primary industry.
Seem that crazy now?
Good god and I thought the UK got a bad deal. Still, until Apple fix the limitations with the iPhone, I'm not having one.
I actually had one for a while, but forced 02 to take it back as it wasn't Vista 64 compliant. Took a while, but they did in the end.
Cracking iPod, decent phone, its just too limited. I want to be able to save attachments from emails! Its just too functionality locked.
Oh, and now I've seen true 3G on my new Tytn II - Apple can stuff the iPhone up their goods-in. Edge was ok, but it pales into insignificance with 3G.
Still, at least the battery on the iPhone lasted longer than the 3 pico seconds that I have with the Tytn II!!
Perhaps I'll look at the mk2/3 iPhone when I'm out of contract, or perhaps not if the oft-rumoured PSP Phone has appeared by then.
I've been dying for the Irish iPhone release and I'm a huge Apple fan - but I sure feel like they're taking us for a ride.
Expensive and less than 100% features?? Rip off!!!
Come on Apple!
How do we say "Apple fanboys are bloody annoying" in Irish?
Cuireann na fanbuchaillí úl isteach orm ;-)
Taking current exchange rates and a difference in VAT into account, there is a €40 discrepency between the price here (Ireland) and the price in the UK. €40 to ship it across the Irish Sea? I doubt it. This is just a joke.
O2 Ireland are really bad. No 3G phones, no decent tarif, no call a friend for free, really really expensive data on handsets, still selling iMode in most of their shops. Basically they have not done anything for the handset users in 2 or 3 years and have been moving more into the 3G broadband for computers market.
iPhone will flop here in Ireland. Technology in everyday handsets here is miles ahead.
The whole 'Apple' thing just confuses me. iPhone is way behind in technology, ipod was never the best mp3 player, and even the new laptop 'air' is less powerfull than their last model. Are Americans that easily fooled?
I have a nokia N95. This thing has everything. Brilliant sat-nav, mouse for my pc, 5 mega pixel camera etc etc. Why would someone pay more for a seriously worse phone?
This is such a joke...
I bought a Nokia N95 with an unlimited data plan and 100 any number minutes per month for €340 (517 USD) and it cost me about €30/month (45 USD)
This is a far better phone than the iPhone and I would be very surprised if the supposed 3G iPhone will be any competition either...
As far as data amounts go I use my phone to check my feeds, emails, Messenger, Skype, listen to 256k radio streams, watch streaming BBC new most days and download and watch mobuzz tv and I use about 800Mb per month so there is no way any crappy edge iPhone is going to use 1Gb.
Mind you iPhone users do need to watch a lot of porn. :-)
Im from the uk, and the iPhone tariffs are really good over here i'm on the £45 tariff and £7.50 insurance so al together i pay £52.50 and i get 1200 mins 500 texts and unlimited internet access with 7,500 wi-fi hot spots.