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iPhone 3GS UK Discussion thread

Spanky Deluxe said:
Been away from this thread a bit. Watching what's going on on twitter, O2 have already admitted that the UK wholesale price they pay for the iPhone 3G S is the same as the iPhone 3G. Hence, they've essentially admitted to raising the price on the 16GB iPhone by nearly £30. There's something very fishy going on pricing wise.
Click to expand...

Yeah something really fishy is going on. On twitter they have said the wholesale prices from Apple have remained the same like you said. They are now saying that the story on ZDNet with the quote from an O2 spokesperson saying they iPhone is now being subsidised less by O2 is a mis quote and its actually being subsidised more.

How does that work out? Same Apple Wholesale price + being subsidised more by O2 = Higher price than the iPhone 3G at launch.
 
flipshot said:
Yeah something really fishy is going on. On twitter they have said the wholesale prices from Apple have remained the same like you said. They are now saying that the story on ZDNet with the quote from an O2 spokesperson saying they iPhone is now being subsidised less by O2 is a mis quote and its actually being subsidised more.

How does that work out? Same Apple Wholesale price + being subsidised more by O2 = Higher price than the iPhone 3G at launch.
Click to expand...

Exactly. I do feel sorry for whoever's running their Twitter feed. I'm hoping all of this leads to my previous feeling that O2 might pull a knight-in-shining-armour card and drop prices at the eleventh hour. I've been hammering them on the Twitter the last few days. :eek:
 
dalvin200 said:
OHHH RIIIGHT!!! i didn't know you just continue the contract on with a PAYG phone.. lol!

so whats the process? I just go into an o2 store, buy the payg 3gs, take my sim out of my 3g, pop into 3gs and all works fine?

does o2 need to do anything on their end? eg:activate blah blah.. ?

what would happen to my 3g if i didn't trade it in? would that just be an ipod touch? or could someone else use it with an o2 sim?

thanks
Click to expand...

Yep - just buy a PAYG one and pop your sim in - should work as before now. O2 wouldn't need to do anything.

With your current 3G - just get them to give you a PAYG simcard (or use the one from the PAYG 3G S you buy) and pop that in - then you can ignore the phone part if you like and just use it as a glorified iPod Touch - or a PAYG phone if you like.

Sorted!

-L
 
Spanky Deluxe said:
Been away from this thread a bit. Watching what's going on on twitter, O2 have already admitted that the UK wholesale price they pay for the iPhone 3G S is the same as the iPhone 3G. Hence, they've essentially admitted to raising the price on the 16GB iPhone by nearly £30. There's something very fishy going on pricing wise.
Click to expand...

What exactly did they say about the wholesale price?

I would have the thought the wholesale price of the 16GB 3GS is the same as the wholesale prices previously was of the 8GB 3GB and the 32GB 3GS is the same price as the 16GB 3G was.
 
sananda said:
What exactly did they say about the wholesale price?

I would have the thought the wholesale price of the 16GB 3GS is the same as the wholesale prices previously was of the 8GB 3GB and the 32GB 3GS is the same price as the 16GB 3G was.
Click to expand...

They claim Apple didn't reduce the prices but AT&T increased their subsidy.

Here they said the wholesale price in sterling is the same for the 3G S. Here, after being pushed, they go on to say that "overall wholesale sterling prices are essentially the same" but the 16GB 3GS is slightly more expensive.

This doesn't explain why the 16GB 3G S is £29.37 more than the 16GB 3G was on a £45 18 month contract or why it is £29.36 more than the 16GB was on a £35 18 month contract.

In regards to the £45 18 month contract deal, the iPhone 3G now costs over 50% more (£87.11 vs £57.74).
 
As an early adopter of both the 2G and the 3G I am a little offended that O2 are not offering me an official pathway of any description

Now , don't get me wrong, this is not you usual moan about the costs involved , I wholeheartedly agree that they can't "just cut contracts short" and subsidies HAVE to be taken into account - I actually felt very lucky and very grateful for the original (2g-3g) upgrade , and think that o2 didn't HAVE to do that , but the fact that they DID set a precedent IMO.

My problem is more one of courtesy than £££ , There is absolutely no 'lit' pathway to this upgrade , sure , I can pay off the remainder of my contract , then take out a new one / upgrade - but considering my (obvious) loyalty , then why make it mess , and me cough that money up front ? - surely the same amount of revenue , perhaps more , could be protected by other means ?
Eg. Offer me the same deal on a 24 month contract , that way they still get the same amount of line rental , they keep me as an active user the same period of longer ?
The way it stands now - My contract will end in February , By which time Apple will probably be 4 months away from announcing a "new" device - I can categorically say now, that I will not be interested in a 3GS that is about to be replaced !! . the question is , will I wait for Apple , or will I be looking to see how android has developed by then?
My Guess is that after 18 months of the same handset , I'll be a bit twitchy !
 
Leemo said:
Yep - just buy a PAYG one and pop your sim in - should work as before now. O2 wouldn't need to do anything.

With your current 3G - just get them to give you a PAYG simcard (or use the one from the PAYG 3G S you buy) and pop that in - then you can ignore the phone part if you like and just use it as a glorified iPod Touch - or a PAYG phone if you like.

Sorted!

-L
Click to expand...

brilliant!!
i may have a think about this in a bit more detail... would probably get more money if selling as a payg iphone 3g rather than trading it in i would of thought...
 
So o2 appear to be saying that the 32GB is a whole new price point and that the 16GB 3GS is around 10% more than the old 16GB (Pay and Go prices, presumably not subsidised or not by much).

Are other carrier taking this line?

AT&T appear to have the 16GB 3GS at the previous price point of the 8GB and they have the 32GB at the previous price point of the 16GB 3G.
 
I think we need to wait a few more days before Payg becomes preorder as contract customer are more important to phone companies and they want to see how many payg they will have left after the contractors preorder.
 
Looks like a good way to do this is:

Apply for a Tesco credit card - 12 months @ 0%
Buy the phone at £440 (16GB) on Pay&Go on the credit card
Phone comes with 12 months "unlimited" internet access, same as a contract version.
Pay off the card at £37/month.

Fine for someone like me who rarely uses the phone "as a phone". A £10 topup will probably last me several months.

Then it's a bit like getting it for free at approx £37/month on an oldschool 12-month contract. Doesn't feel so bad that way. I never scratch the surface of the free minutes and texts on contract anyway, so it's the same thing.

Doesn't help much with the early termination issue (I have a 2G iPhone, so I'm OK) but IMO that's not as unfair as some are making out. As O2 say when the phone is subsidised it'd be unfair on people with Nokias etc to treat iPhone users differently just because we're always itching to have the latest and greatest Apple stuff. They don't technically owe us anything. It's the expensive upgrade *price* (i.e. same as purchasing new) that annoys me, and seems to be discouraging people from renewing a contract or even signing up for one at that as-new price - the opposite of what mobile phone companies used to do. More fool them :)
 
Cloudane said:
Looks like a good way to do this is:

Apply for a Tesco credit card - 12 months @ 0%
Buy the phone at £440 (16GB) on Pay&Go on the credit card
Phone comes with 12 months "unlimited" internet access, same as a contract version.
Pay off the card at £37/month.

Fine for someone like me who rarely uses the phone "as a phone". A £10 topup will probably last me several months.

Then it's a bit like getting it for free at approx £37/month on an oldschool 12-month contract. Doesn't feel so bad that way. I never scratch the surface of the free minutes and texts on contract anyway, so it's the same thing.

Doesn't help much with the early termination issue (I have a 2G iPhone, so I'm OK) but IMO that's not as unfair as some are making out. As O2 say when the phone is subsidised it'd be unfair on people with Nokias etc to treat iPhone users differently. It's the expensive upgrade *price* (i.e. same as purchasing new) that annoys me, and seems to be discouraging people from signing up for a contract - the opposite of what mobile phone companies used to do. More fool them :)
Click to expand...

I think you only get the 12 months free internet if you top up £10 every month. Mind you, you're solution would be kind of like a £45 12 month contract. Except you get 500 minutes instead of 1200 and no free texts. Still, it'd be 12 months instead of 18.
 
Spanky Deluxe said:
I think you only get the 12 months free internet if you top up £10 every month. Mind you, you're solution would be kind of like a £45 12 month contract. Except you get 500 minutes instead of 1200 and no free texts. Still, it'd be 12 months instead of 18.
Click to expand...

I thought that too, but I can't actually find any reference to that on the O2 website...
 
Spanky Deluxe said:
I think you only get the 12 months free internet if you top up £10 every month.
Click to expand...

Not going by this wording from http://shop.o2.co.uk/update/paygo.html :

When you buy a new iPhone from us, we'll give you 12 months of unlimited web and Wi-Fi. It's called the O2 Web & Wi-Fi Bolt On, and you'll be able to keep it at the end of the 12 months for £10 a month if you like. We'll let you know when it's time.
Click to expand...

You only need to top up the £10/month after the 12 month freebie is up.

I know from other Pay&Go users that there's no minimum top-up for the line rental - you can put £10 on and have it last all year.

So it's like a 440/12 = £37/month 12-month contract, but that does depend on how heavily you use the calls and texts and how much value you placed on the free minutes and texts you're given. For many people, the free minutes and texts on contract are more than they'll ever use in the first place.

For me over the 12 months, yeah it'll probably work out £40-45/month... which is not bad for a 12 month "contract".
 
Cloudane said:
Not going by this wording from http://shop.o2.co.uk/update/paygo.html :



You only need to top up the £10/month after the 12 month freebie is up.

I know from other Pay&Go users that there's no minimum top-up for the line rental - you can put £10 on and have it last all year.

So it's like a 440/12 = £37/month 12-month contract, but that does depend on how heavily you use the calls and texts and how much value you placed on the free minutes and texts you're given. For many people, the free minutes and texts on contract are more than they'll ever use in the first place.

For me over the 12 months, yeah it'll probably work out £40-45/month... which is not bad for a 12 month "contract".
Click to expand...

Yeah, it sounds like a good idea for you. Good to know the 12 month free internet is included whether you top up or not.
 
flipshot said:
Yeah something really fishy is going on. On twitter they have said the wholesale prices from Apple have remained the same like you said. They are now saying that the story on ZDNet with the quote from an O2 spokesperson saying they iPhone is now being subsidised less by O2 is a mis quote and its actually being subsidised more.

How does that work out? Same Apple Wholesale price + being subsidised more by O2 = Higher price than the iPhone 3G at launch.
Click to expand...

It's my opinion at this point that whoever is manning that feed doesn't even know and is just making it up as they go along.

Phazer
 
Where to buy???

Buying my first iPhone....

Should I get it from O2 shop (no pre-order, so will have to go in person next Friday morning) or use Pre-order on the CPW website??

I've always bought direct from O2 as I thought it's easier to sort out any probelms direct rather than through CPW (or whoever)

I went to the O2 shop yesterday and asked if i could 'reserve' one, and she didn't think it was necessary.... But is it fesiable they could sell all their stock on the first day??

will pre-ordering on CPW guarentee my the phone on the Friday??

What's the best option???
 
JHWright said:
Buying my first iPhone....

Should I get it from O2 shop (no pre-order, so will have to go in person next Friday morning) or use Pre-order on the CPW website??

I've always bought direct from O2 as I thought it's easier to sort out any probelms direct rather than through CPW (or whoever)

I went to the O2 shop yesterday and asked if i could 'reserve' one, and she didn't think it was necessary.... But is it fesiable they could sell all their stock on the first day??

will pre-ordering on CPW guarentee my the phone on the Friday??

What's the best option???
Click to expand...


Last year, I tried to pre-order and the systems failed and it was total carnage. However, I still got my phone on launch day by going to my local CPW when things had quietened down. I'm not sure pre-order is going to be as necessary this year.

I'd be surprised if it was as busy this year as most of the 3g owners wont be upgrading (!) unlike last year.

Just my 2p.
 
Do you guys think the PAYG 3GS is going to be available on launch day?

Seems strange CPW arnt allowing pre orders:confused:


Do you think they'll be offering payg a few months down the line as with the 3G last year?


Thanks
 
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