O2 iPhone 4 tariffs

http://shop.o2.co.uk/new-iphone/tariffs.html

No more unlimited Internet but instead unlimited texts on pay monthly. 1GB appears to be the maximum inclusive data allowance and will cost £45 on 30 day and up to £65 on longer contracts. On top of that O2 will probably make the web look terrible for everyone by compressing images and due to the nature of the proxy server, sites which require non-cached data - like BBC HTML5 iPlayer - will not function properly. What is happening here? A superb release of Apple technology is under attack.

Just what I was thinking. 500mb is not enough for anyone who uses the phone to the best of its uses. I was lucky enough to switch to a 12mth simplicity plan with unlimited texts and data before they brought this in. Wouldn't want to join them on a new contract now though as I need the data usage for emergencies incase the home internet goes down and we need a trusty 2mbps backup

I'd do the same.. although, not with O2.

500Mb is a lot though. I'm a very heavy mobile user. Three exchange push accounts, two caldav and one carddav account. Spotify and a few other web things and since 02/09/2008, my iPhone says i've only used 523MB of sent data and 1.7GB of received data.

Matt

I would guess that this adjustment is in response to FaceTime.

A couple of days ago I had a nice chat at the Genius bar getting my Mac Pro fixed. The chap mentioned he had heard O2 were extremely worried about the capacity of their network in relation to the number of iPads sold. I guess this is it.

Good piece in the Guardian.

Interesting snippet:

In reference to www.guardian.co.uk/technology/2010/jun/11/mobile-data-unlimited-end:

However it's more complicated than O2 getting a bit whiney. What we're hearing here at the Guardian though is that Apple itself helped to kill off the "unlimited" tag, because it doesn't like it being used with services that call it "unlimited*" and then explain further down the page in tiny print that that actually * means "subject to 'fair usage'"

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Props to Apple - trying to end confusion pricing.

In reply to a post by bosie:

What is happening here?

Unfortunately its reality. This is worth a read:
http://blog.three.co.uk/2010/06/03/lets-get-cameron-...

Three is investing heavily, and I can get better 3G/HSDPA speeds on their network than O2 or Voda or my friends Orange accounts - and even they are saying the frequencies and technology need a "revamp".

Interesting view indeed. There does seem to be more to this story than has been told, picking up on the Guardian idea of reluctance by the operators to spell it out. Something else did occur to me that, assuming Apple were involved in recent moves, this may be an attempt to align the UK model to that of the US. I expect O2 would have gone for FaceTime over 3G given the chance.

3 are doing a good job with the iPad. On mobile broadband however, bypassing the proxy, O2 beat 3 and Voda hands down in my tests. I've seen close to 6Mbps down and 1.8Mbps up with a good modem. I like where 3 are going but they do need to sort out their customer service - not unfriendly by any means just too inefficient and overly complex.

We can only hope that Apple brings out their own network.

Hope not - too far from its core competency. Even simple IT stuff like MobileMe's backup is absolute rubbish (compare with DropBox). Better using market power while they have to to make the carriers bend (like they did with the music biz).

I suppose so - and as long as Apple keep up their v. good work!