iPhone 3G and 3GS to be offered by Orange UK -- official
By Vladislav Savov 
posted Sep 28th 2009 4:07AM
posted Sep 28th 2009 4:07AM
[Via iPhone Bang; Thanks, Gears]
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Vodafone next please, as their coverage is the best in the UK, period. There are many out there who have held back getting an iPhone because it is not on Vodafone.
Although Orange used to be great they are currently terrible for coverage. Yep, better competition if Vodafone carried iPhone as at least it would be able to get a signal with that MNO.
At last! Orange have the best 3G coverage and O2 have a genuinely rubbish network. The only place they win (O2 that is) is rural 2G because they have 900Mhz spectrum. See for yourself
http://www.engadget.com/2009/09/28/iphone-3g-and-3gs-to-be-offered-by-orange-uk-official/#commentform
Doh! I meant see for yourself
http://www.ofcom.org.uk/radiocomms/ifi/licensing/classes/broadband/cellular/3g/maps/3gmaps/
"Vodafone next please, as their coverage is the best in the UK, period. " is this some kind of joke?
Ive got vodafone and O2 and i must admit that Vodafone coverage is not so perfect as you describe...
I find Orange and 3 have the best coverage in the Westcountry, unless your on the moors, in which case 02 is the way to go.
Hopefully, a bit of competition will bring prices down.
Oflife - If people really wanted the iPhone on Voda they would buy one and have it unlocked.
Vanilla - How could the orange network go from being good to terrible?
Did I miss something or did Orange decide to shoot themselves in the foot and tear down a few masts?
Uber - Im on o2 and can say the 3g coverage is fine by me.
Not that i'm not glad about this news. I am. Competition will bring prices down, which is good for us on the street level.
But your arguments are a bit fanboyish.
Where's the Verizon love?
@uberadept
do you work for orange?
The orange network is rubbish, even in and around london.
Try get a decent signal between the segment of greater london bounded by the M3 and M23 and you'd be lucky, only O2 has worse signal
Post hijack just to say I expect some seriously clever advertising!
Excellent, at last some competition to O2 in the UK, hopefully this will see prices fall (maybe?). O2 have been less than honest with 3G coverage so welcome the chance to see if Orange provide a better 3G service.
and you can't count - 3rd
I cant resist to say that i am second.
I can't resist to say... FAIL!
Can't resist to say you fail.
Let the identically priced tariff plans begin!!!
price war? are you kidding me? iPhone is too much of a cash cow. Orange will just duplicate O2's pricing and get what customers they can. Plus their reception (especially round southampton) licks balls.
PhonoDucky (ex-apple fanboy)
Not a gaudy lot you must have got there in UK :(
Yep - identical tarrifs, and the identical 24 month contracts :|
All the phone providers in the UK dropped 12 months, now they are dropping 18 months for the stupidly long 24 month contracts. They seem to be in competition not for the best service but for screwing their customers over the most.
And for those saying "can;t wait for tmobile to get it" you seem to have forgotten orange IS tmobile in the uk - they announced the merger earlier this month.
Correct me if I'm wrong, but are cell phone contracts in the UK decided primarily on what phone you get as to how much you pay per billing over the term of your contract?
atlast....
Im soo tired of O2s sick pricing, plans and monopoly.
Orange pricing is generally awful, so don't hold your breath.
monopoly... over the iPhone market?
Orange plans are not great.. i agree but they are better than O2, atleast.
O2 has monopoly in UK telecom market and they dont care about the customers anymore. I dont want a f***** unlimited dataplan on my phone a minimum 500MB is more than enough and O2 wont let me have a plan without their overpriced data plan. Also, where i live, the free wifi doesnot exist so whats the point of getting a iphone with free wifi and bullshit when i cant use it?
im not a apple person but i totally hail the app store. im not a fan of orange either. i was on o2 for the last 4 years and i still love the coverage. i spend only 15 pounds a month on my phone i get the same amount of minutes as of £35 iphone contract. My work phone is on orange and im sure they will get one iphone for everyone once our contracts expire in 3-4 months.
What price war?
Apple ties these distributors to a tight contract that ensures a high income for Apple therefore end users will never see anything like an acceptable monthly fee.
Blackberrys are the same. Excessive charges designed to make fortunes with competition limited by those who control the phone networks.
Competition is a myth in cell phones. All this talk of 'new technologies' and 'features' is tripe. Compare what you pay compared with land lines - and I don't mean just one element of making calls. No one can tell me that radio transmission is dearer to maintain than copper wires buried underground. Its just another rip-off like the one enjoyed by the 'premium charges' villains.
So where are the 'regulators'? Why, enjoying the benefits of working with such people.
Where do you think Apple's high profits come from?
Probably old 'technology' overcharged for, like Microsoft's operating systems and applications. Old stuff, well milked.
Orange normally are pretty expensive e.g the HTC Hero so i wouldnt expect it to be cheaper than 02. If T Mobile got in the game then i could imagine them trying to undercut the competition
Orange aren't expensive for the Hero. It's actually pretty well priced - you can get 900 mins + unlimited texts + 500mb data for 30 pounds a month. Or 600 mins + unlimited texts + 500mb data for 25 pounds a month.
I always used O2 but i'm very happy that orange have joined. Just for some healthy competition
What a shame it went to Orange, they have THE worst coverage i have ever seen, where O2 has full signal on 3G i had 1 bar to none on Orange.
Their customer service is terrible, they dont care about their customers, O2 have nothing to worry about!
Full 3G signal doesn't mean anything on O2. I've recently moved over to O2 from T-Mobile (just for the iphone, doh), and a full signal still means really crappy speeds. I've also found just general coverage for phone reception to be a lot poorer with O2, and I live and work in central Birmingham, where coverage should be spot on for any carrier. (I used to bemoan T-Mobile, now I miss them)
I also agree that O2's 3G service in Birmingham is unbelievably slow
I have O2 and it works just fine in Dale End
Ah betafrog!!
Shame on me. >_
Brillant news, been contract on orange ran out 3 weeks ago and the only thing stopping me get an iphone was been forced to change to O2.
English has been around for quite some time in the UK, has it not? ;-)
You call THAT English!?
He's speaking Scottish, not English.
Comparing this... whatever you want to call it, would be like comparing apples to oranges. Wait...
No wonder O2 wanted the Pre...
and htc hd2 :D
http://www.engadget.com/2009/09/25/htc-leo-looking-confirmed-for-o2-uk-debut-will-be-free-on-the-r/
Indeed, it's becoming clear why O2 have been acquiring phones like the Pre and Leo/HD2, they're losing their iPhone exclusivity.
Agreed. The trouble is that I really want the HD2 which means that after all of that I will probably be moving away from Orange after all.
@ZSX
There's always the Expansys/Clove route.
I wanted the Touch HD, but didn't want Orange so I bought a Tuch HD from Expansys, subsidised with a T-Mobile contract.
Paid about 20% more than if I'd have gone with Orange, but for that I got an unlocked device, with HTCs' ROM, no branding, and the phone and network combo I wanted.
All I can say is Unlock and talkmobile Sim just SUPER!... ;o)
"...and we can also probably look forward to T-Mobile joining in on the fun. Let the price war begin!"
Errrrm, no, I don't think so. I thought Engadget would have already known, but obviously not...Orange and T-Mobile are now officially merging, so I cant see T-Mobile joining any price war.
Do your research Engadget!
Yes, this is true. But they are keeping the brands separate for 18 months I think was the report. May make it over to T-Mobile, but I doubt it.
iPhone Smephone. The iPhone is so 2005, its the HTC Leo that I'm more interested in now. Shame its on O2 :(
I wander if Orange will screw around with the firmware like they do with all other smartphones. At least every one I had when I was with them came with a crap hacked firmware that was plastered with Orange logos and more difficult to use than the original!
Its hard enough to find an iphone in the o2 shops nevermind orange as well. Apple dont seem to be shipping enough.
Hopefully this will make things a bit more competitive. I wouldn't switch to Orange though. I'm in Central Scotland and the coverage is awful where I live. I get a full signal on O2 (not 3G) but no signal/1 bar at best on Orange. I wish I was exaggerating, but I'm not.
I just wish Apple would sell the iPhone on a sim-free basis where the user is not tied to a contract and can choose the network. (I'm discounting the sim-free models available in Europe at a ridiculous £650-£900).
Those prices are ridiculous because that's what the phone actually costs (not to build, lord no!). If you really want out of the contract, you have to get out of the handset subsidy too.
KarlW - I believe you are quite wrong, a 32GB iphone costs £550 on PAYG (even more off contract completely), a 32GB iPod touch costs £229, there is not more than about £20 of extra equipment in the iPhone compared to the iPod Touch (at wholesale costs) so they are clearly screwing their customers with the iPhone
maybe O2 will reduce prices if orange undercut them by a fiver or so, thats all im hoping for. my girlfriend is on orange and she has to go out of the house to make a call.
Orange are more brutal than O2 when it comes to price gouging. Anyone expecting major cost reductions here is going to be more than a little disappointed.
But.. I've been on contract with orange so long, that whatever they charge, I'm 25% off and have various other extras to carry over. Win-win for me :-)
oh my comment didnt save :/
ill repost:
The O2 pricing for contract iphone is such a rip off
back when 3G was best model (when i baught it)
iphone 16gig white pay and go
£470
then i switched pay and go 2 days after to O2 off-ophone contract
800 minutes 800 texts unlimited internet - 12 months contract (O2 Simplicity contract name)
£19.90 a month
total
£708.8
Iphone 3G 8gig contract
£99
Contract closest rivalling O2 simplicity:
500 minutes 600 texts unlimited internet - 18 month contract
£34.26
Total
715.68
So by buying pay and go and switching later
i save 7 quid
i get
300 more minutes
200 more texts
and 8 gig more space!!
I'll probably switch to the simplicity contract once my iPhone contract runs out next year. Do you get visual voicemail still though?
You don't get visual voicemail on Simplicity. It is cheap though. I have a 1 month rolling contract and get 600 minutes and 600 texts with unlimited internet for the same £19.40. 1 month contracts are nice.
OFFER: i don't know if "offer" in english offers a subtle difference but in french "offer" means "gift". i'm tired of all operators (france included) who say NEW OFFER for a new data plan sucking you blood dry. I'm amazed this local slavery is perceived as some kind of greatness and generosity.
"i don't know if "offer" in english offers a subtle difference but in french "offer" means "gift"."
Not in English, it means em.. offer.
Offeror: "I will offer you an iphone 3gs for £45 a month. Are you willing to accept my offer?"
offeree: "yes I will accept your terms and conditions".
The way I see it, with the convergence of Orange and T-Mobile, the collective coverage for both 2G and 3G will be greater, making it more - not less - coverage network for the Orange iPhone, over the O2 iPhone... Which is nice... :)
I used to get shit 3g coverage with o2 on my iPhone (sometimes I barely got 3g) but since getting a hero on orange, its nearly always connected at 3.5g.
Good to see people now have a choice when getting one in the UK now.
Can anyone clarify if this is to come into effect that a jailbroken phone running an Orange SIM would no longer need to be jailbroken?
Sorry, your handset is still an "O2 iPhone" regardless, meaning you need the SIM unlock in place.
The best coverage and prices/packages I have ever had has been from T-mobile but I switched to O2 for the iphone, so now I'm hoping the Orange/T-mobile merger goes ahead with the iphone and i'll be in heaven :)
Same here, T-Mobile packages have always been the best value for me and their customer service has been top notch!
Been with them almost six years now, even gone down the Expansys route to get the handset (Touch HD) I wanted while still keeping T-Mo.
orange sux balls .. by far the worst operator I used , vodafone was amazin, by far the best .. great customer service not to mention vodafone passport .. here's hoping they join up .. then the pricing wars would really begin.
Simon @ orange sux balls .. by far the worst operator I used. I agree!
Phone networks in the UK are terrible. There are problems with every network. I'm currently on Vodafone and in West London, I get 0 bars whenever I enter a building. o2 works in some areas in our house. 3 is terrible even outdoors (friend's experience). Don't know about Orange or T-Mobile but everyone here is saying Orange has terrible reception.
I found that O2 has improved somewhat (used to be unusable in my house no less) and 3s coverage is actually pretty awesome. But 2 year contracts make my blood boil.
The choice will be nice. I had been trying (unsuccessfully) to buy an iPhone 3GS in Belgium but gave up when it became clear that I was moving back to the UK in December (if I'm going to have to buy a contract for a decent plan then I might as well get a subsidised phone into the bargain). By that time stock should be OK and I hope that there will be a bit of competition between the providers. Anyone know what the networks are like around the midlands (Coventry) area?
Sssh don't tell anyone, but…
The correct punctuation for a pause in a title is an 'en-dash'
OSX shortcut (ALT+hyphen) or Windows ANSI (ALT+0150)
hyphen -
en dash –
*wink*
does this mean, o2 will be legally obliged to unlock our iphones to switch to other networks?? I really hope so..
umm...when I got my first iphone, it really felt good owning a device that did so many things so easily, but after a year, its popularity has gone through the roof(not like I didn't expect it), good for Apple, but not so good for the type of people like me who have an extra criteria when buying something, the 'feel special' criteria. Don't get me wrong, I don't buy things to be better than anyone else, I just like being unique, and that was the case when the iPhone was out of reach for the mass market. And now this(orange)? (personally all my iPhones were on VF NOT O2). Especially when kids who have nothing better to do are roaming around with such expensive devices trying to be 'hip' making an ass of themselves playing (shit) music through the loudspeaker. I'm not one who falls for advertising, which is the way apple sells its products to immature kids who think owning it will make them 'cool'...sorry for ranting. It's just please Apple make a premium version of the iPhone, I hate being seen having a 'toy' it's highly embarrassing.
"I'm not one who falls for advertising, which is the way apple sells its products to immature kids who think owning it will make them 'cool'."
"I just like being unique,"
and you think a mobile phone does this? Do you have a special comedy tie you like to wear around the office?
I bet you also hate it when bands 'sell out'. What a crock of self-entitled bullshit.
"I just like being unique"
Well, the good news is you are unique.
Bad bews, so is everyone else!
does this mean, o2 will be legally obliged to unlock our iphones to switch to other networks?? I really hope so..
nope.
Yes, and they always have been.
They may charge you £15 but they cant say no.
I think every carrier in the UK should have perfect reception all over, UK is the size of Texas here in the US, its not that big of an area to cover, compared to the entire US.
Why do they all have bad reception like many have stated or at least far from perfect reception?
As someone said above, there wont be much more competition with this.
About 10 years ago the mobile operatoirs in the UK realised that the market was going to reach saturation soon, and that they needed to make more money per person.
Originally we were all on 12 month contracts.
So they started to move to 18 month contracts to give you 'a better deal'.
Now 18 month is standard and they offer 24month contracts 'for a better deal'
Funny thing is, mobile phones cost the networks the same. Back in 1996/7 I had the famous Nokia 8110 (Banana phone, or Matrix phone). It cost me nothing on a 12 month £25/month contract. It may be a crap phone by modern standards, but it's buy price was just as high as modern smartphones are now.
So the networks have all totally conned us into paying higher monthly charges for longer periods. Methinks the telecom regulator needs to have a look at it. No competition at all.
Dylan
Long time Orange contract holder = cheap iphone upgrade
WIN
Orange user here, been happy with them so far
Yeah!!!!!!!!!! I get to upgrade my orange contract late next year lets hope its available then!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Pity Orange are shite nowadays. No doubt they'll be branding every inch of the iPhone as they do with every other product.
I can't understand why Apple pushed this whole thing where every country can have only one exclusive iPhone provider. Why not just throw it out there for any carrier who wants to offer it? I have to assume that they'd have even better sales that way, since there are tons of people who are unwilling to switch carriers just for a phone.
Going exclusive with the iPhone was a way for both Apple and the networks to play it safe.
Last time Apple attempted a device of this type (Newton) it didn't do too well, and they may have had similar concerns about the iPhone. Limiting the iPhone to one network per location also kept things simple with regard to technical issues.
Networks no doubt were equally cautious, this was Apples' first venture into the mobile phone market and it could have gone the way of the Newton. Pitching the iPhone to the networks would have been hard, so they'll have wanted something significant in return for the gamble.
The iPhone has been a success though, and networks with it are lapping it up for the most part. They've incurred some collateral damage of sorts (not being prepared for the surge in data usage or user migration) but for the most part they're happy.
Apple though is a different story. Network exclusivity is now a hindrance to their goal of getting the iPhone in as many hands as possible. The problems of the network (coverage, pricing, customer service etc.) are effectively their problems, limiting sales because there are those who, through choice or circumstance, will not purchase an iPhone whilst on the exclusive network.
Apple is trying to handle the complex European mobile market with higher prices and less exclusives - I mean, in Italy it is available on FOUR carriers!!
Arent TMobile and Orange merging? Im guessing they'll release this when they merge.
Price war? Are you kidding? This would be the case when there would be 2 or more carriers competing in selling the iPhone. In fact there is only Apple, trying to squeeze out the last Cent of their customers. Just have a look at what they are doing all over the world right now: team up with the carriers to force the customers to pay even more - just if they want to use tethering, what they could use with any other device but the iPhone without any extra fees.
Good Lord... Orange... Of all operators.
I was an orange customer from the day they launched the nokia slide matrix phone. (my first phone!) They were good if not excellent then. But from then till up to the point I moved to o2 to get the 1st gen iphone there service had become appalling.
I have vowed never to go back to orange. The customer service was horrendous and everything seemed overpriced and hit with hidden taxes when I was with them.
should be good, as they have the best 3G coverage in the UK... and its out on vodafone aswell! Free iPhone on Orange
should be good once its out on vodafone aswell... even though orange have the biggest 3G network in the UK http://www.freeorangeiphone.co.uk
I don't like orange customer service as you have to wait about 20min to talk to someone nor do I like the animal tariffs and when that say unlimted Internet what thay realy mean is 500 meg limit and I don't think that is good for the iPhone as I have it on 02 with unlimted and thay mean unlimted not trying to rip of customers not like orenge hiding there unlimted Internet with 500 meg limit a month and I also get 1200 mins a month with 500 texis and I can go to mc donalds and use there wifi for free with the cloud and bt openzone as 02 made a deal with them at no extra cost this month all I had to pay was the line rental this month which was £44.04 which was not bad as I am a very heavy user and I am going to stay with 02 and I think thay do have good deals with there tariffs and thay do look after there coustomers as I had to phone 02 I was only waiting on the phone for lest than a min so I just want to keep up the good work 02