Yes but the £35 a month I'm paying is a combination of phone subsidy and bundled calls/texts.

All they have to do is work out how much I owe on the phone and then ask for that sum. If I pay off the contract and sign a new one then effectively I'm pay for about 6 or 7 months of bundled calls and texts I won't get. That is if the new 18 month contract starts as soon as I pay off the old one?

It all stinks. This is why I've always bought SIM free before.

Edited by deleted (Tue 09-Jun-09 22:40:12)

£245 plus handset price and another 18 months of rubbish O2 service. I don't think so.

3G speeds are dire where I am. At home I don't even get Edge.

Agreed. And that's why I believe the cancellation price will not be anonymous' (months remaining x tariff). But I also don't believe it will be zero, because there *is* a component of what you are paying per month that contributes to the price of your 3G iPhone.

Combine this with the incentive to get you into another 18-24 month contract with a new iPhone, and only O2 can assess the net value of that business to them. Only they can calculate a cancellation charge that will meet their business objectives AND entice you/me to upgrade, rather than waiting out our contracts and then going elsewhere for a Pr�

In reply to a post by gilesjuk:

£245 plus handset price and another 18 months of rubbish O2 service. I don't think so.

3G speeds are dire where I am. At home I don't even get Edge.

3G is non-existent in darkest Dorset, and at home I don't get a signal at all - not even GPRS.

But Edge or WiFi is available a lot of places I go, and at home I have WiFi and a phone landline.

My interest in the upgrade options is academic. I'll get iPhone OS 3, and I can live without a compass and improved camera. I expect to skip the 3G S and wait for the next iteration.

Edited by deleted (Tue 09-Jun-09 22:58:51)

Seriously, it's not worth it.

In reply to a post by AlanH:

My interest in the upgrade options is academic. I'll get iPhone OS 3, and I can live without a compass and improved camera. I expect to skip the 3G S and wait for the next iteration.

I agree. iPhone 3G + OS 3.0 will keep me happy for a long time. Also, since the form factor is the same, who's to know I haven't got a new one?

In reply to a post by gilesjuk:

O2 are being greedy. Apple should be looking to provide the iPhone to all UK operators.

I'm not sure I'd agree with that, O2 iPhone plans are some of the best available in the world. Vodafone, 3, Orange or T-mobile may not have been as generous if they'd won the contract but I agree opening up the competition at this stage would be a good thing. I think it's fair to charge extra for tethering otherwise we'd see data limits coming to the iPhone itself.

a friend just emailed me this:

"Option 1 - wait until eligible for an upgrade.
All O2 Pay Monthly customers are part of O2 Priority List and those paying £35 or more a month, have the oppotunity to upgrade early. Customers won't have to see out the full term of their existing contract before being eligible for an upgrade."

looks like it's a cut and paste from the o2 website.

If your paying more per month you can upgrade earlier.

Upgrading to the new iPhone 3G S
Existing Pay Monthly customers have the following options for upgrading
to iPhone 3G S:

Option 1 - wait until eligible for an upgrade.
All O2 Pay Monthly customers are part of O2 Priority List and those paying £35 or more a month, have the oppotunity to upgrade early. Customers won't have to see out the full term of their existing contract before being eligible for an upgrade.
All customers continually spending over a minimum of £80.00 a month, receive a 6 month early upgrade
All customers continually spending over a minimum of £50.00 a month, receive a 3 month early upgrade
All customers continually spending a minimum of £35.00 a month, receive a 1 month early upgrade

Yes, thanks, I'm well aware of everything on the O2 web site. There's still nothing there that tells me how much it would cost me to buy out my current contract.