O2 offers early iPhone 4 upgrade amnesty in bid to retain customers
By Vlad Savov 
posted June 9th 2010 5:43PM
posted June 9th 2010 5:43PM
posted June 9th 2010 5:43PM
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Nice to see the UK angle. Thanks Engadget!
@PaulMdx Engadget UK? pleeasseee
@PaulMdx
How much is the phone actually going to cost? After paying £52 a month (inc insurance) for > 18 months I'm hoping for a free upgrade.
@tobsmonster2 Everyone should check here instead http://shop.o2.co.uk/new-iphone/howtoupgrade.html as well as the deal in the article there is some sort of eligibility list letting you out your contract up to 6 months early. I would think its related to how much you pay a month as to how early you can be let out your contract for free.
@tobsmonster2 This is why the phone will have a few million sells in the first month, just because of upgrades.
@petebob796 I don't actually mean letting you out your contract early. I mean letting you upgrade early with contract renewal. Without the £20 for each month left on your contract. NEED EDIT BUTTON
That wallpaper is for H2O, not O2.
Or are they referring to the O2 in the bubbles? ;)
Someone tell me why Engadget deleted this article:
"iPhone or EVO: which one should you get?"
It dissapeared with more than 400 comments and even a poll?
@Meekermoloko: bubbles are O2's thing, they use them in their own advertising, have done for years.
@Beatnik
yes! and i posted two comments on this article about removing the iPhone or Evo article and poll and both of my comments were deleted! i think engadget owes an explanation of why they deleted the article after writing it and taking a poll!
@tobsmonster2
Some people I know are going to be pissed off that this is coming out considering they've just signed contracts.
@PaulMdx Agreed, the more UK gadget news the better!
Regarding the choice of network for the iPhone 4, I compared the coverage for the postcodes I frequent most with their online coverage checkers, then being the sceptical type tested them myself (with 3G+ PAYG SIM cards) to get actual results and compare them to the checkers.
Might sound a bit excessive, but considering you're gonna be stuck with your choice for the next 18-24 months, I think it’s well worth the £4 and afternoons work.
My choice? I'll be getting my fruity phone with the fruity company. Orange came out top of the board, with T-Mobile second, Vodafone close third, and O2 a distant last.
@PaulMdx
Nah, I'm good. My Deall Streak is amazing, thanks O2!
@MikeWard1701
Orange has been less than impressive, in my experience with a 3GS. It is quite usual that I have a 3G connection but there isn't actually any bandwidth (que the "Server stopped responding" message). Even when there is bandwidth there it is usually insufficient to support both voice and data so there's no checking email when I'm on a call. Coverage is certainly important but it needs to be backed up with bandwidth and that's my principle concern for the next time I choose a provider.
Still, Orange Wednesdays are nice and I honestly like the customer service people when I've had to contact them.
o2's offer is quite good though. For a minimum of 25 pounds a month you get unlimited data, WiFi in 1000 of cloud and BT hotspots and a couple hundreds free texts/mins. Not bad of a deal.
@Dark Archon PSN Archonik XBL Dar
Unlimited texts, 100 mins I believe. http://shop.o2.co.uk/promo/iphoneindex/Pay_Monthly/3G_S/White
That's what i'll be getting should it be kept on.
@Dark Archon PSN Archonik XBL Dar
If it's anything like their offer for the Desire then no thanks. With that you paid more for less and got the phone over a month later than all the other networks.
i predict many users jumping ship away from o2 and their horrible service.
when i couldn't receive a decent signal on my iphone 3gs in my own house, you know something is not very right.
@Wiggy Fuzz
Conversely O2 have the best coverage of any of the providers around my area. Surprisingly the whole country does not live in the same spot.
@Wiggy Fuzz
o2 has the best customer service in UK.
I can find houses across UK that one of the networks will have poor coverage. Does it mean the network is shit? Of course no, it doesn't, but people do not understand that. That's why you can find any mobile operator forum with someone whining and saying "Ohnooo... i have bad signal in my house => you are shit", and I mean EVERY NETWORK.
P.S. - Moving from Orange to o2 in September due to increased data amount per month. Orange 500mb; will charge you for every extra meg. o2 will call you to remind that you started exceeding your limit, not charging any money. And as people in forums write, o2 rarely calls, and it is more "unlimited" as there is no megabyte limit in Terms of Use, people use more than 1gb per month and everything's ok
@Wiggy Fuzz
Yeah. No complaints about O2 here either.
@Wiggy Fuzz THough O2 is pretty good in my house, it's not great nationwide. I'm stoked at the opportunity to go back to Vodafone or Orange (both are much better, from experience - I can make a choice based on price alone - esp regarding tethering etc).
@Wiggy Fuzz Yeah, joined o2 after dealing with Three customer service reps... o2 Customer service is legendary.
@AA Alex I agree O2 does have very good customer service.
Even though this is a good(ish) deal, I think I will wait for my Pre contract to expire, and then get the iPhone 4S/4G/HD/5...
Hopefully they have a similar deal in Canada with Telus. Though id much rather the EVO came out here. Probably the only reason im probably gonna get an iPhone 4 is cause im sure the EVO wont be out here beforehand.
Psyched that the iphone 4 is going to be available on all carriers in spain, we need the competition.
Psst, America, you might want to try this whole multi-carrier phone system. It's pretty awesome.
@Colours AFAIK AT&T did this for free. Firstly, how does this rate versus an ETF in the contract? 2nd off, they market this, and you drink it, like it's a big favor.
While I'm happy for anyone who wants to take them up on this, this is no favor, this is actually something every carrier should look into. First, they extend your contract, always a good think to have a longer revenue stream. 2nd off, without largely increasing their bandwidth since the phone is largely the same and will have similar usage, they get in some cases to nearly double their revenue stream from their customers. One might think that they are actually benefiting more from than their customers by adding $$$ to their bottom line....
*this would be a favor to anyone with an expensive plan**
Anyone heard news about tarriffs & prices?
@Johnny888
The networks are probably waiting for one of the other networks to go first. I suspect you'll get one annoucing one day, then another the next day. I don't think there will be much in it though - probably similar to today's prices.
@Johnny888
Some guy on macrumors spoke to an O2 spokesperson and they said the handset prices on pay monthly would be the same as the 3GS
@mojo8472
And I've heard another spokesperson say the iPhone isn't available until July. You cannot trust spokespeople for anything, they just want you to stop talking and buy their stuff.
i wish o2 would do this for all smartphones.
iPHONE FTW!!!!
This is revenge to those insolent EVO!!! foos who commented on the recent comparison article. I bet you only about 5% of them will actually get the EVO
@MrT I bet you are really pissed because you know the EVO is a better product. It really is a product for an elite that wants the best in smartphones, not a product for the middle of the road sheeple that likes "magical" crapgadgets.
So this means Verizon is gettin the iphone right? Thats what everyone was trying to infer from ATT's offer even though it simply makes economic sense to get people to agree to an extra year on contract.
iPhone 4 is so going to dominate the Evo 4G...its not even funny.
We already know that Sprint lied about the numbers for the Evo 4G's sales...HOW PATHETIC.
Anyways I've already sold my 3GS. CANNOT WAIT till June 24th! Who else is camping out to buy it Day One?
@BrookLynnsFinest
I think I misread your post, what I saw was:
Who else is camping out to buy it Day One?...HOW PATHETIC
@BrookLynnsFinest I'm with you. iPhone is the better designed, more future proof phone that won't be replaced by a HTC (insert hyperbolic name here) next month like the EVO
@ilh Although I'm also selling my 3GS and buying a 4 I won't be camping out to buy mine. For those that are I certainly don't think it's 'Pathetic'. It's whatever floats your boat really, each to own etc...
@BrookLynnsFinest You're the most hilarious member of the Engadget community. Not because you try.
@ilh
I'm sorry that I actually care and love a product enough to camp out for it.
Not to mention the iPhone is totally worth the time and effort unlike other phones which you'd be able to get on day one without much difficulty.
Anyways Apple Haters can continue to hate but it doesn't change the fact. Most people outside of Engadget don't care about Flash, They don't care if adMob is feeling all angry/hurt because they''re locked out of iPhone. They don't care about how "open" android is.
They just want a phone thats fun, easy to use, and easy on the eyes.
Most android phones and the os itself do not fit those qualifications.
@duplu
and if your O2 they will give you £240 for a 16GB :)
@BrookLynnsFinest
"I'm sorry that I actually care and love a product enough to camp out for it."
...
@BrookLynnsFinest
I guarantee Apple does the same thing, only they don't admit to it.
And you really shouldn't call someone else pathetic while simultaneously proclaiming your love for and intention to go camping out to spend your money on an inanimate object.
will they do this for windows 7 series???
hope so!! keep customers happy and all that!
@flyingmoose I would stake my house on them NOT doing this for any phone except the iPhone.
@flyingmoose WP7 won't just be one phone though so can't imagine it happening.
Fairplay to O2 for allowing people out of their existing contracts early. It annoys the hell out of me when people think they are somehow entitled to upgrade within their contracts with no fees. You have a choice - buy the phone or sign a contract and get the phone subsidised. I have a rolling one month contract and buy my phones outright. It's obviously more expensive upfront but works out less overall.
Don't all contracts require a cooling off period? I'm not sure that this is something that you can "sign away".