The Author – Bart Busschots
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Feb
29
O2 – The Irish iPhone Rip-off
Filed Under Computers & Tech on February 29, 2008 at 7:51 pm
I posted my initial comments on the Irish iPhone introduction yesterday and the more I think about it and the more I read about it the angrier I get with O2 and the less likely I am to buy an official Irish iPhone. Judging by the iPod Touch the iPhone must be a spectacular phone but I’m not prepared to be taken to the cleaners by O2 for it. The rip-off culture here in Ireland is so well established that we often don’t even notice quite how much over the odds we pay for stuff but O2 is going too far with this one. O2 Ireland obviously don’t think they need to learn from their colleagues in the UK who already have the iPhone.
[tags]Ireland, iPhone, rip-off[/tags]
What makes the iPhone cool? The touch interface is the most obvious answer but that’s only part of the story. The web browser, mail client and visual voicemail features are also major factors. It has become clear that iPhone users are very heavy data users and that’s really the whole point of the iPhone, it’s not just a phone but an actually usable mobile communication device. It’s fantastic at doing email and web as well as voice and SMS. O2 Ireland simply don’t get this rather important point, rather than the unlimited Data plan O2 give in the UK, Irish customers are expected to be happy with a pathetic 1GB per month on ALL available plans right up to the most expensive one. That’s just plain retarded!
Secondly, Irish iPhone customers won’t be getting visual voicemail apparently and worse still, will have to pay 15c per minute to listen to voice messages. I’m currently with Vodafone and I’ve had free voicemail for about a decade now. No way am I keen to give that up.
Then we come to the plans, the cheapest one is a whopping 45€ per month yet only comes with a paltry 170 minutes and 100 text messages. O2 iPhone customers in the UK get 600 minutes, 500 texts and unlimited data for £35 (almost exactly €45) per month. Puts the rip-off O2 Ireland think they can get away with into perspective really.
Why would O2 Ireland introduce the iPhone with such rotten terms? Is there no communication between O2 Ireland and O2 UK? Or is it because O2 Ireland’s CEO thinks Apple users are freaks? Well, this ‘freak’ isn’t going to bend over and let O2 take him roughly from behind. I would love to get an iPhone but not under these terms, no way.
I totally agree with you, I will not be getting an iPhone from O2, currently I am a bill pay 02 customer and am thinking of leaving them as they will not give me a proper data plan, I am on a crummy 25mb plan compared the hundreds of megabytes you can get from vodafone and 3.
“I’d say your Apple freaks will be queuing out the door when we launch”
She gets away with saying stuff like that, and O2 get away with what you complain about because she’s right – Apple freaks will queue out the door when its launched. The majority of the sort of people likely to buy an iPhone (present companye excluded, obviously) aren’t buying it because its a good phone, or has cool features, they’re buying it because they have more money than they know what to do with and the iPhone is the latest trendy thing to own.
Apple have conquered the yuppie market and O2 are more than happy to ride along on their coat tails.
To be honest, the 1 gig isn’t whats killing me, though its fucking ridiculous. The 500 euro price tag is crazy, and the monthly deals are flat out ignorant.
In my case, I’ve to pay more money for less minutes. They may as well offer upgrades such as “We will shit in your bed” and “piss in your cornflakes”, they’re just about as attractive.
Weirdly enough, I’ve been against buying an American iPhone and unlocking because I wanted to wait and see how the legal way would work out. This is my answer.
If you see me holding an iPhone any time soon, it’ll be a €325 one from America, not this “exclusive deal” from o2.
I’m waiting for the 3G version myself. Choice made by my financial situation, though!
As I can legitimately claim it was a business expense, I’ll be paying roughly 50% of the inc VAT cost out of my own money. So the pricing isn’t TOO bad for me to go legit. We’ll see how (or if) they handle visual voicemail in future before making that call, though.
Oddly enough, both O2 and Vodafone have unlimited data plans for roughly the same cost on their 3G network.
I can’t believe the differences in price plans between 02 Ireland and 02 UK! UK customers get 3 times the texts and minutes than Irish customers do for the same price plan. How do they justify that? It’s absolutely ridiculous. I would love to own an iphone but I’m not prepared to be ripped off for the privilage. No doubht they will sell well as some people have no idea of value for money.
I’d be curious to know how much input Apple had into the price structure.
While the iTouch is a slick little device and I’m tempted by it, the iPhone itself leaves me cold – mainly because I want a GPS in my next phone rather than data limits.
Since the latest software updated the iPhone now have pseudo GPS, it does both Cell triangulation and WiFi triangulation. Apparently it’s amazingly accurate in cities and pretty good in the country. No idea if O2 will be giving us these features or not here in Ireland though. Since they’re not giving visual voice mail you’d have to wonder.
In a twist of fate, I’ve ended up with an iphone for the next two weeks. It’s an American one so I can’t comment on the O2 features but I just hooked it up to the wireless here and tried the Google Maps thing. It pin pointed where I was really well, but it’s still not the detail I actually want so the N95 is still looking like a winner there.
Right. Some more comments (since I feel like being a chatty bitch.
1) Compared to the other O2 plans, the iPhone tariff seems reasonable. It’s hard to compare as there isn’t one exactly the same, but the nearest are active life 150 + Broadband 1GB add on (€50 total) or easy life 150 + Broadband 1GB add on (€35). Straight off, both offer 25 minutes less free. Also, extra minutes are 30c flat rate or 30c/15c compared to 20c/10c on the iPhone.
For comparison sake if you got the N95 from Vodafone, it’ll cost you €199 for the 8gb version with the Online Perfect Choice 200 which is €49 for 200 minutes and 25c thereafter. The real kick is there doesn’t seem to be any sort of decent data plan. The best on offer is Medium which is 25MB for €15 and then €2.00 ever mb after wards. Meaning a gb will cost you somewhere in the region of €1965 if my sums are right.
So while the iPhone is a rip off in comparison to other countries, it’s a good deal compared to what we can currently get. Yet again Irish telcos raking it in.
2) My housemates got themselves a pair of O2 iPhones and their experience has been much more positive than mine. Having Edge working (even if it’s not 3G) makes a huge difference to the experience. With all the cool features working it really does make it worth having over one that’s reliant wifi. With the dearth of free wifi that actually works even in Dublin City center all you’re really getting is a ipod with a poorish phone. You’d be as well off just getting an itouch and jailbreaking that instead.
I think you’re actually right Karl. The iPhone is not a significantly greater rip-off than everything else in this country. It just highlighted very clearly for me just how ripped-off we are when it comes to phones.
Sickening, and surely completely flies in the face of free enterprise. But I wont be expecting anything to happen, THEY (O2 Customers) do contribute 1.2% of our GDP. Bertie doesn’t care…
Interesting that they blocked the Northern Ireland route. O2 Ireland abolished cross border roaming charges, O2UK haven’t.
This effectively means that O2 UK are handing them all of their Northern Ireland customers on a plate and we cant get an iPhone up north.
Cretins..
A real pitty they don’t have free roaming from the north to the rest of Ireland. I wonder if it would be cheaper to roam from the North than to buy an Irish iPhone?
Bart.
I am an o2 customer I will be using my free texts on line to keep in touch with friends etc but not make calls..HIT them in the pocket and we will get justice..I want the new iphone but NOT at any cost ..Fed up with being seen as s second class gobshite..COME ON IRELAND boycott it and LET them WHY..Paddy’s do it better…
not going to buy one… never liked o2… would love to buy the iphone… have a macbook pro and love it…
even now the cost of the phone 3g is subsidized… but the monthly contracts are still crazy…
o2 … go for a long walk off a short pier… fast!!
rock on apple!
I am totally frustrated with O2 and their shoddy service, there is a technical problem with some models of their wireless modems and they will not admit it instead giving me the runaround.
I will post again but am disconnecting so often from internet, thank you O2 (not)