News - O2 abandons unlimited mobile data pricing

[HEXUS]

Mobile data tariffs on O2 now formally capped, with the option to buy more.

Read more.

[duc]

PCPro

O2 claims that 97% of its over 20 million smartphone customers wouldn't currently exceed the lowest bundle offering of 500MB, as that's 2.5 times what its average customer uses each month.

[spoon_]

"This enables us to provide a better overall experience for the vast majority of customers and to better manage demand. By doing this, we are laying the foundation for a sustainable data experience for all customers and the huge possibilities that technology will create over the coming years."

Bla, bla bla. I heard that million times already.

No one got guts to say that 3G networks are in such a bad shape that they've to introduce throttling/capping to keep the service going.

[Rob_B]

I thought I was a middle user, email set to check every 30mins, used lots of news apps, some youtube/streaming..then I found I hit ~ 200mb per month, for me 500mb is plenty, it's not an excuse to remove it from people who do use over that per month though
If i'd not already had O2 then the fact I get 500mb included is more of a bonus than having 'unlimited' (1GB) on £45+ tariffs or face another £7.50/month on my bill!

[miniyazz]

Looks like I'll be shopping around in October then :/

For what good it'll do me.

[crossy]

I thought I was a middle user, email set to check every 30mins, used lots of news apps, some youtube/streaming..then I found I hit ~ 200mb per month, for me 500mb is plenty, it's not an excuse to remove it from people who do use over that per month though

There's a couple of postings on the Three blog where users have been complaining that they've blown through their "massive" 500MB monthly limit in two weeks when they got their shiny new smartphone and were just using it as intended. So that's no Spotify etc, just a bit of email, a wee bit o' web browsing and that's it.

"We know that customers are looking for clarity in pricing as too many offers have clauses and catches which are not easy to understand," said CEO Ronan Dunne. "With the wide range of Internet based services now available on mobile devices we're providing customers with generous clear data bundles that give customers freedom.

Sorry, what exactly was "unclear" before? You used your device as you wanted to (minus Skype, p2p, etc) having paid your money. Seems pretty clear to me.
500MB/month is not "generous" and anyone who has the gall to advertise this as "unlimited" needs a good smacking.

"This enables us to provide a better overall experience for the vast majority of customers and to better manage demand. By doing this, we are laying the foundation for a sustainable data experience for all customers and the huge possibilities that technology will create over the coming years."

Translation: we tried to provide our customers with a decent service, but then discovered that our wet-pieces-of-string couldn't do that, so we've given them the minimum we can get away with... But then again they're doing nothing different from Orange, Three, Vodafone, etc, so at the moment T-Mobile are the only holdouts - and how long before they change downwards too?

Mobile companies - is it just me or should they be put in the same boat as double glazing companies and used car salesmen? Given this kind of "improvement" I think it'll be a long time before I trade up to a smartphone...

Bob.

[cheesemp]

Glad I signed a new O2 contract last month and didn't wait for the renew which is due this week! No idea of my usage but I do use the new android phone a lot.

[Rob_B]

Check your online bill, it tells you

[stewis]

i am on o2 and use around 600mb a month and i just have a HD2 as it comes out of the shop. I only use the thing for web browsing, email and the location aware apps... seems like 500mb is a bit low maybe 1gb/m would have been more acceptable

[Arthran]

Funny i read this on the same day i speak to my rep in the Three store, and get told that as of next month the 500mb limit on my "unlimited" internet contract is being upped to 2gig as Three have found Android users are struggling with a 500mb limit.

O2 lose out, Three wins...

[matty-hodgson]

£25 a month for 100 minutes, 500MB of data and unlimited texts? That's only a fiver more than what I'm paying now for my Samsung Jet .

Do you have to actually ring up and say you want an extra 500MB added or do they just take the extra £5 once you've used your 500MB without asking?

[miniyazz]

I was having a read of a few T&Cs tonight and wondered why Android users had a far higher internet usage policy on one of them. Things are going to get messy...

Virgin Mobile will just charge you their rate/MB over the 1GB fair usage policy without telling you. Puts me off them, that does..

O2 still have their T&Cs with no cap on their fair usage policy, though I know from experience that it's somewhere between 2-3GB when they warn you (they don't charge for going over, certainly not the first time anyway).

Orange are just expensive, for sim only anyway, and since I couldn't easily find any mention of internet specifics I couldn't be bothered with them.

T-mobile do a 1GB fair usage policy.

Tesco mobile is cheap but with 500Mb fair usage policy.

[directhex]

Orange are just expensive, for sim only anyway, and since I couldn't easily find any mention of internet specifics I couldn't be bothered with them.

Smartphones have Dolphin or Panther plans.

Dolphin has a 500 meg cap.

Panther is "unlimited" with 750 meg FUP

[SiM]

Got 1gb with vodafone

[directhex]

With O2's Kamikaze, the best data plans are from T-Mobile.

3 gig FUP on Android (1 gig on other OSes)

http://www.t-mobile.co.uk/services/u...mc_id=fup#fup1

e.g. you can have a Samsung Galaxy Portal for £15 a month (free phone) with 3 gig per month. or 10 quid per month, plus 75 up front

[Stoo]

I only used 32 meg last month - I guess that's what happens with wi-fi at home and work..

Still a massive slap in the face - I'm still glad I'm on the old contract until next year though...