Complain to Ofcom about O2 Tethering Charges

[Phil A.]

Hi,
UPDATE 2: Just found the following snippet on the internet. Text is lifted from a Google translation of the Telefonica (O2 parent) website.

Let us start with the confirmations. Tethering and MMS or "share internet" supported from day one. The "internet sharing is a feature included in the price data and therefore is not considered an extra service or pay more for it. This is important because the iPhone is a 3G modem and fantastic for this use is more than interesting.

O_O

Comments....anyone???

It's completely irrelevant what Telefonica do. They might be O2's parent company but this is in a different country with different tariffs.
O2 have clearly stated policies with regard to tethering and these were in place when you signed up to the contract. If you're not happy then the only solution is to not renew your contract when it's up.

 

[fixmymac]

It's completely irrelevant what Telefonica do. They might be O2's parent company but this is in a different country with different tariffs.
O2 have clearly stated policies with regard to tethering and these were in place when you signed up to the contract. If you're not happy then the only solution is to not renew your contract when it's up.

Hi,

I do appreciate your point that Telefonica and O2 are separate entities.

However, what gripes me about this is that O2 are claiming that data to iPhone is different to data to tethered laptop. Telefonica, despite the lower cap, obviously see things differently.

If i remain within fair use on iPhone, O2 are happy. If i go over, they charge me. I am happy with that.

What i would like an explanation for is the difference O2 see between data to iPhone and data to tethered laptop.

Can the same logic not apply?

If i remain within fair use via tethering, O2 should be happy. If i go over, they charge me. That seems fair to me.

It seems very unfair that they expect me to pay for something i already have, whether i decide to use it, or not. It is entirely possible that no tarrif data, other than VV, is used over the period of a month. Is it fair that, if i want to check my email via tethering, i have to pay for 3GB worth of data? Keep in mind that iPhone tariff has 'Unlimited data'.

 

[rushmere]

Hi,

I do appreciate your point that Telefonica and O2 are separate entities.

However, what gripes me about this is that O2 are claiming that data to iPhone is different to data to tethered laptop. Telefonica, despite the lower cap, obviously see things differently.

If i remain within fair use on iPhone, O2 are happy. If i go over, they charge me. I am happy with that.

What i would like an explanation for is the difference O2 see between data to iPhone and data to tethered laptop.

Can the same logic not apply?

If i remain within fair use via tethering, O2 should be happy. If i go over, they charge me. That seems fair to me.

It seems very unfair that they expect me to pay for something i already have, whether i decide to use it, or not. It is entirely possible that no tarrif data, other than VV, is used over the period of a month. Is it fair that, if i want to check my email via tethering, i have to pay for 3GB worth of data? Keep in mind that iPhone tariff has 'Unlimited data'.

Delivering data to your iPhone and delivering data to another device are clearly different things.

If I can deliver data to my laptop, why couldn't I deliver it to 100 laptops, or 1000 laptops? It's unlimited isn't it? Clearly, this is nonsense. O2's terms and conditions are clear. The "unlimited data" is intended for your iPhone. They're perfectly within their rights to limit it to just your iPhone, and to charge extra if you want to use it in another way. Sure, we'd all like tethering to be cheaper, or even free, but you don't have a right to free tethering, and there is no legitimate complaint for OFCOM to respond to.

 

[jrandall]

Phil,

I'm afraid you are mistaken -- "tethering" is not a service that O2 are empowered to remove. They provide a service in the form of a SIM that can be used in any GSM device, and many many GSM devices on the market support tethering in one way or another.

They have never "offered" it before because it is not a service they have ever had control over before. They have created this new "service" by leveraging their exclusive arrangement with Apple and forcing them to artificially cripple the device by limiting its tethering functionality.

If they are concerned about the loss of revenue that is due to people using their "unlimited" service in an "unlimited" mannger, perhaps they should not offer an "unlimited" service.

It is not from a sense of entitlement that we are upset, it is because O2 are attempting to _take_away_ a feature that is already effectively part of all data plans, and now they want to charge extra to enable us to use it again. As a side issue, it's not like we have any choice -- O2 have negotiated exclusive rights for the iPhone, so we are not free to switch to Orange or 3 or Vodaphone in order to get this service from them (I wish I was!), as we were forced to subscribe to their (terrible) service in order to get the quality device that we want.

Josh.

No, the worst case is O2 feel compelled to remove tethering completely - they've never offered it before and if it becomes a choice between potentially flooding their network with loads of tethered iPhones for no revenue at all and removing tethering completely, they'll probably go with the latter...

I really don't understand the sense of entitlement that everyone seems to have nowadays: O2 are offering an additional feature for the iPhone for additional cost. The equation is pretty simple, really - pay to use the feature if it means that much to you, or don't use it.

 

[samab]

Phil,

I'm afraid you are mistaken -- "tethering" is not a service that O2 are empowered to remove. They provide a service in the form of a SIM that can be used in any GSM device, and many many GSM devices on the market support tethering in one way or another.

They have never "offered" it before because it is not a service they have ever had control over before. They have created this new "service" by leveraging their exclusive arrangement with Apple and forcing them to artificially cripple the device by limiting its tethering functionality.

If they are concerned about the loss of revenue that is due to people using their "unlimited" service in an "unlimited" mannger, perhaps they should not offer an "unlimited" service.

It is not from a sense of entitlement that we are upset, it is because O2 are attempting to _take_away_ a feature that is already effectively part of all data plans, and now they want to charge extra to enable us to use it again. As a side issue, it's not like we have any choice -- O2 have negotiated exclusive rights for the iPhone, so we are not free to switch to Orange or 3 or Vodaphone in order to get this service from them (I wish I was!), as we were forced to subscribe to their (terrible) service in order to get the quality device that we want.

Josh.

Tethering was never part of the plan --- O2 has been charging tethering on blackberries for a long time, at £1 per MB.

The rules are always there --- whether the carriers have the technology to monitor and disable usage or not.

 

[Eso]

If I can deliver data to my laptop, why couldn't I deliver it to 100 laptops, or 1000 laptops? It's unlimited isn't it? Clearly, this is nonsense.

What is nonsense is thinking a wireless connection is inheriently tied to a specific device. So what if you shared your "unlimited" data connection with 1000 laptops? You are still limited by the bandwidth and hard data caps that your carrier provides. So wheter you get 3.2 Mbps on one iPhone/laptop or 0.0032 Mbps (1/15 the speed of a 56K phone modem) on 1000 computers, it is the same.

I use a router on my home cable connection to connect two iPhones, a laptop, and a desktop computer to the Internet. I'm not suddenly getting 4x the service I pay for. I get 1/4 the service per device. From the perspective of my ISP, my setup is indistinguishable from someone with just one computer.

 

[samab]

What is nonsense is thinking a wireless connection is inheriently tied to a specific device.

What is non-sense is your lack of understanding that common law can sub-divide a thing into a million different imaginary pieces and then sell them separately.

You can buy a house leasehold --- i.e. buy the building, but not the land. You can buy the house freehold --- you own the building and the land, but you may or may not own the mining rights to the land.

You can sub-divide any real or imaginary property and sell them. That's how the real world works.

 

[jayenh]

I don't get why so many people are trying to defend o2 and knock this idea. I believe orange offer tethering for free with some of their hand sets? It's part of the contract? The problem here, IMO, is that o2 is charging way over the top for the service. If it was a reasonable price noone would give a damn. Because the iPhone is only available on o2 we're supposed to suck it up and assume that this is the best price they can possibly offer for the service? Bollocks. O2 know people want the iPhone and they know that they can squeeze every penny out of it where possible until apple see's the light and gets rid of the exclusive deals. Until apple does that I think it's right for people to complain about pricing. There's no competition to drive down prices for the consumer so why not let themselves be heard?

Personally I have no need for tethering and wouldn't use it even if it were free, but I am all for consumers getting a fair price and currently o2 are not offering one.

 

[ronnyuk]

We should all complain to Ofcom but not using the 'unlimited internet' bit as the main point. O2 allow tethering using any other phone without an additional charge. eg. If I had a Nokia capable of being a modem then I could use that without paying an additional charge but because I have an iPhone they want to charge me a minimum of £15 per month.
Surely that is good grounds for a complaint.

Not really true soz, all nokias on o2 are charged for using there phone as a modem, I have a n96 and that was charged too, my n95 and 8gb also both had the charge

Web n Walk on Tmobile allows you to use your phone as a modem.

 

[samab]

I don't get why so many people are trying to defend o2 and knock this idea. I believe orange offer tethering for free with some of their hand sets? It's part of the contract? The problem here, IMO, is that o2 is charging way over the top for the service. If it was a reasonable price noone would give a damn. Because the iPhone is only available on o2 we're supposed to suck it up and assume that this is the best price they can possibly offer for the service? Bollocks. O2 know people want the iPhone and they know that they can squeeze every penny out of it where possible until apple see's the light and gets rid of the exclusive deals. Until apple does that I think it's right for people to complain about pricing. There's no competition to drive down prices for the consumer so why not let themselves be heard?

Personally I have no need for tethering and wouldn't use it even if it were free, but I am all for consumers getting a fair price and currently o2 are not offering one.

I don't get people who said that O2's pricing is not reasonable --- just go around the globe and you will find that O2's iphone plans are the cheapest in the G7.

You live in iphone paradise and you don't even acknowledge it.

 

[tommyGB]

The question is: If another carrier had the right to sell the iPhone would they impose the same restrictions as O2?

Even if the other carrier were to offer 200mb for free per month this would provide some competition for O2. I think this an example of abusing its market position.

Btw I agree there should be a cap and that O2 should be able to charge. However, they could offer some data using tethering for free??

Tom

 

[samab]

The question is: If another carrier had the right to sell the iPhone would they impose the same restrictions as O2?

Even if the other carrier were to offer 200mb for free per month this would provide some competition for O2. I think this an example of abusing its market position.

Btw I agree there should be a cap and that O2 should be able to charge. However, they could offer some data using tethering for free??

Tom

There is no abusing of their market position --- because UK has the least market concentration in the industrialized world. UK has 5 national mobile carriers with the top carrier owning about 27% of the UK market. US is next with their top carrier with about 30% of the market.

Go to the other countries --- their top carriers own 40-45-50% of the market. That's abusing their market positiion.

 

[jayenh]

I don't get people who said that O2's pricing is not reasonable --- just go around the globe and you will find that O2's iphone plans are the cheapest in the G7.

You live in iphone paradise and you don't even acknowledge it.

you honestly think £15 for tethering is reasonable?

 

[The Phazer]

you honestly think £15 for tethering is reasonable?

Nobody could.

I didn't, so I'm going to quit O2 over it.

Phazer

 

[samab]

you honestly think £15 for tethering is reasonable?

It's priced competitively with the UK dongle market --- which is a lot more cheaper than US, where datacard plans cost $60 US a month.