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O2 Simplicity Tariff with Iphone

R

rabbit redux

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Jun 9, 2009
5
0
Hi guys,

I've never had an iPhone and was holding off buying one untill after the WWDC announcement but the new prices from O2 are ridiculous. Coupled with the fact that a 18/24 month contract will most likely mean that any new iphone announced next year (something we hope will be a substantial upgrade) will be unavailable the same way 3GS is to 3G customers at present. The PAYG prices for the 3GS are still way too much (£440.. :eek:) and i'm not that bothered about a compass/video recording so i'm thinking of picking up a 16GB 3G iphone and buying the simplicity £19.58 tariff which comes with the unlimited web content bolt on.

http://shop.o2.co.uk/sim-only-simplicity

But on the O2 twitter it was said:

"Doing that means you'll lose out on the extra benefits of the iPhone tariff - visual voicemail, unlimited data, wi-fi etc"

I'd be grateful if people who already use this tariff with their iphone could answer a few questions:

1. Can i still use wi-fi from my home/work network?
2. Is there a data cap per month (with wi-fi or 3g)?
3. Do i still get the same 3G speeds as a contract user would or is the 3G speed capped (like the PAYG tariff) ?
4. Is there any other disadvantage between simplicity and Iphone tariff other than visual voicemail?

Thanks for your help.
 
yep you can still use your own means of wi-fi :)

there is a fair usage policy on web data, but i cant see it being enforced. Ive used my iphone for web browsing everyday and ive never had a problem.

Speeds are fine :)

only differences.: visual voicemail, unlimitied date (e.g no fair usage policy) and free wifi.
 
thanks for all that.

how useful is the 'free wi-fi'? is it just something you get at a starbucks? is wi-fi a lot faster than 3g on loading a website? (eg. BBC News).
 
The simplicity tarrifs with free web bolt-on will work just fine.
All you will lose is visual voicemail (which is unreliable ANYWAY) and public wifi in mcdonalds etc (which half the time i cannot be bothered to connect to and use 3g anyway)

3G is still quick loading webpages -however - the thing i find with 3g is that when you first launch safari it takes longer to load the first page - as if it "dials up" - once its going its just like wifi

same goes for EDGE.

Wifi however is fast as soon as you launch safari

i have actually worked out that it is cheaper to buy the 3G iPhone on PAYG O2 and then insert an O2 Simplicty sim (£20pm) with free web bolt-on than it is to subscribe to their £35per month contract and pay £99

if you work them both out over 18 months, Simplicity is cheaper.
 
i was wondering if anyone who has done this knows if you can activate conference calling on your simplicity account? i know previously O2 did not support conference calling, but presumably they do now that apple touts it as a feature of the iphone ("iPhone also makes it easy to talk to more than one person at the same time. With a tap, you can switch between calls or create a conference call."), but i was wondering if o2 would let you add it to your account if you don't have an iphone tariff?

Orange and Vodafone have supported conference calling for years, but i've always had to ring them up to activate it on my account, so i don't think it's something that's normally activated by default (except perhaps if you're on an iphone tariff?)

by conference calling i'm referring to you being able to ring a couple of people at once from your phone, and then merge the calls into one, everyone then being able to speak to one another - i'm not talking about those services where everyone has to dial a certain number to speak to one another (like they have on t-mobile).
 
rabbit redux said:
Hi guys,

I've never had an iPhone and was holding off buying one untill after the WWDC announcement but the new prices from O2 are ridiculous. Coupled with the fact that a 18/24 month contract will most likely mean that any new iphone announced next year (something we hope will be a substantial upgrade) will be unavailable the same way 3GS is to 3G customers at present. The PAYG prices for the 3GS are still way too much (£440.. :eek:) and i'm not that bothered about a compass/video recording so i'm thinking of picking up a 16GB 3G iphone and buying the simplicity £19.58 tariff which comes with the unlimited web content bolt on.

http://shop.o2.co.uk/sim-only-simplicity

But on the O2 twitter it was said:

"Doing that means you'll lose out on the extra benefits of the iPhone tariff - visual voicemail, unlimited data, wi-fi etc"

I'd be grateful if people who already use this tariff with their iphone could answer a few questions:

1. Can i still use wi-fi from my home/work network?
2. Is there a data cap per month (with wi-fi or 3g)?
3. Do i still get the same 3G speeds as a contract user would or is the 3G speed capped (like the PAYG tariff) ?
4. Is there any other disadvantage between simplicity and Iphone tariff other than visual voicemail?

Thanks for your help.
Click to expand...

Hi there OP,

I am currently using the £15 simplicity 24 month contract with my iPhone 3G.

I bought it as PAYG and there was no problem setting it up.

1) Of course!! You can even use Wi-Fi if you don't have a sim card in the phone.
2) There is, but it is impossible to go over.
3) You get the same speeds as all consumers who get 3G speeds. Depends of your area.
4) Call Merging just won't work... visual voicemail will also not work. That's all!
 
I know Simplicity works fine (all O2 sims work fine in the iPhone), but I wonder how Push notifications work, do you need an approved iPhone plan for them to work?
 
Isn't the iPhone 3G 16Gb version discontinued?? According to the Apple website you can only get the iPhone 3G in 8Gb black.

Or are the 16Gb's still around in the UK??
 
Simplicity V iPhone PAYG pricing

Abcmsaj said:
Ha! Check out the research I've done on this:

http://www.ipodtouchfans.com/forums/showthread.php?t=196647

:\
Click to expand...

That is a very useful comparison between the various options, so thank you.

It really shows how ABSOLUTELY TERRIBLE the official iPhone tariff is.
I want to buy PAYG 3gS 32 to upgrade my 3G (contract 6 months left) and pass down the 3G to my wife (currently 2G with o2 PAYG). I don't want to waste the 12 months free data but however I look at it it seems that for us the ONLY obvious thing is to just chuck the iPhone sim in the bin.

Looking at the above link I cannot see how any customer new or old could get sufficient value from the iPhone PAYG tariff unless you will spend half your life in Macdonalds or wherever using the Cloud/BT openzone WIFI that is at least included in the package, or visual voicemail/call merge is worth the money. IMHO the Simplicity £19.58 package with data bolton looks like the best way to use your old iPhone once you upgrade.

I am on £35 contract and I am very happy with that, I am glad that the £35 contract bears up well against the PAYG/Simplicity route (20p in it). If you are a new iPhone buyer I would recommend £35 contract over PAYG/Simplicity as it is surely less hassle plus a few extra features, that is unless you are a very heavy texter
 
imho the free wifi feature you get when taking out an iphone on contract isn't that much to get excited about. i hardly ever get to use it and most of the time it gets in the way because of poor wifi signal from BT. this get's to be a pain because then i have to turn off wifi to use 3G.
 
Simplicity V iPhone PAYG pricing

Abcmsaj said:
Ha! Check out the research I've done on this:

http://www.ipodtouchfans.com/forums/showthread.php?t=196647

:\
Click to expand...

That is a very useful comparison between the various options, so thank you.

It really shows how ABSOLUTELY TERRIBLE the official iPhone tariff is.
I want to buy PAYG 3gS 32 to upgrade my 3G (contract 6 months left) and pass down the 3G to my wife (currently 2G with o2 PAYG). I don't want to waste the 12 months free data but however I look at it it seems that for us the ONLY obvious thing is to just chuck the iPhone sim in the bin.

Looking at the above link I cannot see how any customer new or old could get sufficient value from the iPhone PAYG tariff unless you will spend half your life in Macdonalds or wherever using the Cloud/BT openzone WIFI that is at least included in the package, or visual voicemail/call merge is worth the money. IMHO the Simplicity £19.58 package with data bolton looks like the best way to use your old iPhone once you upgrade.

I am on £35 contract and I am very happy with that, I am glad that the £35 contract bears up well against the PAYG/Simplicity route (20p in it). If you are a new iPhone buyer I would recommend £35 contract over PAYG/Simplicity as it is surely less hassle plus a few extra features, that is unless you are a very heavy texter
 
good stuff. :D
Im looking at getting Simplicity with new iphone.
But would like to hear some feedback from users tmrw and next week.

02 website = theres no mention of using simplicity with iphone.....why is this? are they trying to hide this plan for iphone buyers???

Are there any people with SIMPLICITY ready to put it in new iphone tmrw?
 
The O2 'unlimited' web data plan which is available as a bolt on to contracts as a fair usage policy, with a cap of 200mb per month. The iPhone data plan is 'unlimited' as stated.
 
haydn! said:
The O2 'unlimited' web data plan which is available as a bolt on to contracts as a fair usage policy, with a cap of 200mb per month. The iPhone data plan is 'unlimited' as stated.
Click to expand...

But i think the normal iphone tariffs are also subject to "fair use" policy.

So are you saying, for internet heavy use......the simplicity is no good?
 
I have had this tariff for about a year with a 2G.

1) Of course you can.
2) I'm pretty sure the fair use policy is no different to that on an iphone tariff. I doubt you would exceed it. I've never heard of anyone doing so.
3) I'm told by everyone I know with a 3G that the free wifi services are comparable to if not slower than 3G data rates whenever you have good reception anyways. I don't see how the bolt-ons they provide iphone users with would be better than simplicity users. If anything the iPhone tariffs are less favourable (in terms of o2 priority list perks etc. from which iPhone tariffs are often exempt) because of the subsidy involved which costs o2 an arm and a leg. Plus the apple factor allows them to dictate terms to a willing clientbase.
4) I'm pretty sure all that i'm missing out on is visual voicemail. Its a small price to pay for not being locked into an 18/24 month contract on a phone that gets updated annually.

Hope this helps.
 
bob2131 said:
good stuff. :D
Im looking at getting Simplicity with new iphone.
But would like to hear some feedback from users tmrw and next week.

02 website = theres no mention of using simplicity with iphone.....why is this? are they trying to hide this plan for iphone buyers???

Are there any people with SIMPLICITY ready to put it in new iphone tmrw?
Click to expand...

Yes. Me :)
 
bob2131 said:
But i think the normal iphone tariffs are also subject to "fair use" policy.

So are you saying, for internet heavy use......the simplicity is no good?
Click to expand...

Nope, there are no restrictions on the iPhone data plan. O2 removed the 200mb cap shortly after the original handset was released in 2007.Here is a link to the news article.

The article also states that, at the time the average mobile user only used around 5mb of data in any month. This has most likely increased for iPhone users! But overall, 200mb is still a huge amount.
 
haydn! said:
Nope, there are no restrictions on the iPhone data plan. O2 removed the 200mb cap shortly after the original handset was released in 2007.Here is a link to the news article.

The article also states that, at the time the average mobile user only used around 5mb of data in any month. This has most likely increased for iPhone users! But overall, 200mb is still a huge amount.
Click to expand...

so simplicity has the exact same internet usage policy as pay go and iphone monthly contracts??
 
haydn! said:
:eek: No!

Simplicity = 200mb monthly cap
iPhone = 100% unlimited.
Click to expand...

So are you saying, for internet heavy use......the simplicity is no good?

So even PAY GO would allow more internet use compared to simplicity?
 
The data plans offered free with the iPhone on contract and PAYG are better yes, but, with that said the 200mb allowed on a bolt on data plan you'd get with simplicity is still more than enough for most users.

Really, I doubt you'd even notice the difference. 200mb is still a sizable amount for data on a mobile device.
 
It would be hard to exceed 200MB since the iphone won't let you download anything from apple's official channels that is more than 10MB (music, podcasts, apps) over the data network, and there is no other way to download big files, to my knowledge. There are no torrent clients, no download folder in safari. The biggest thing you can store are photos you've already loaded. If somebody sends you an enormous file to your email account, I doubt apple would let you access it over the data network.

But like I said, I have a 2G, so its obviously more possible with a 3G (even if still very unlikely).
 
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