Apple iPhone 3G PAYG arrives September 16th

After earlier confusion O2 has now confirmed that the Apple iPhone 3G will be available on what the company calls a pay-as-you-go (PAYG) tariff, from September 16th.

If that sounds slightly snarky, then it’s because the terms of this particular deal seem to stretch – okay, reinvent – the meaning of pay as you go. In fact, it could more accurately be called the ‘pay-monthly-or-go’ plan. Anyway, some figures (with added confusion).

An 8GB iPhone on O2’s Pay & Go tariff will cost £349.99 upfront; the 16GB will cost £399.99. For that, customers will get 12 months’ unlimited browsing and Wi-Fi included. After the 12 months are up, the unlimited browsing and Wi-Fi will cost £10/month. Clear enough, even if £10/month sounds very much like a monthly tariff, and not pay as you go as most people know it. So where’s the confusion? We’ve saved that for after the cut, because we like clicks. Feel free to click.

Okay, so it’s free browsing/Wi-Fi for a year and then £10/month thereafter. What will calls cost? O2 doesn’t seem entirely sure. The tariffs section of its website lists three ‘minimum top-up’ bands – £10-14, £15-29 and £30+. Respectively, these will bag you 500, 1000 or unlimited minutes to any UK landline or O2 mobile. Why would you cough up £14/month if £10 will get you the same amount of minutes? The O2 site doesn’t seem to have the answer. Does O2? No – we asked. However, the company has promised to get back to us. When it does, you’ll be the second to know.

UPDATE: O2's press folks have just told us that the listed price bands reflect the levels by which customers tend to top up each month. So, you get 500 minutes if you top up with any amount between £10 and £14 each month. Fair enough. But it again begged the question: why would anyone spend £14 for 500 mins when they could just spend £10? Then we cottoned on (or we think we did): O2's Favourite Place tariff is valid only for calls made from a registered postcode. That's how O2 explains the tariff on its website. So, to benefit from the 500 included minutes, you'd have to make the calls while in the vicinty of your registered postcode (your 'Favourite Place', in this context). Step outside that postcode area and calls will begin to be levied on O2's Talkalot tariff (which start at 25p/min for standard calls). That's why you might end up topping up £10-14/month, because your 500 mins are only useful when you're sat at home (or at least, your Favourite Place). Have we got that right? We asked O2. It wasn't sure. It's getting back to us. Watch out for another gripping instalment.

UPDATE 2: O2's press folks called back. Yep, we cottoned on right - those inclusive minutes in O2's iPhone 3G Pay & Go minimum top-up bands only apply if you're dialling from within your registered postcode (your Favourite Place). But walk out the front door and up the road a bit and you'll suddenly be paying for calls. Go & Pay, perhaps?

[ O2]

Originally published on www.mobilecomputermag.co.uk, now incorporated into Broadband Genie
© Dennis Publishing

 

 

 

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