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You are here: MacNN Forums > Hardware - Troubleshooting and Discussion > iPhone, iPad & iPod > iPhone UK: O2 Contract Holders CAN Upgrade!

iPhone UK: O2 Contract Holders CAN Upgrade!
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Koralatov
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Oct 26, 2007, 05:12 PM
 
I was in an O2 shop today, interrogating the staff regarding whether or not I could get the iPhone on day of launch or not, and it turns out I can. Anyone who has an existing contract is eligible, with one exception: those who took them out after 19th September of this year. I practically backflipped for joy when the girl told me!

As it turns out, O2 are waiving their usual 'draw-bridge' payment of £200-odd for premature upgrades because you have to buy the iPhone outright. If you signed a contract after 19th September, though, you're not eligible for this unusually generous fee-waiving, and will have to pay it if you want the iPhone.

Once you get the iPhone, you apparently take it home and activate it with iTunes, keeping your original number, and you're good to go.

One worrying thing, though, is that beyond this, all the staff in the shop seemed to know next to nothing about the iPhone itself--I ended up telling them quite a lot about it...
     
as2
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Oct 26, 2007, 05:50 PM
 
My current contract with o2 runs out next week, and considering the iPhone as an upgrade, but at the moment I pay £20 for 600 mins and 600 texts as they give me discount for being a long time customer (6 years+). I'll only be upgrading to an iPhone if they continue to do this, otherwise I'll just get a new nokia or something.
[img=http://img192.imageshack.us/img192/1300/desktj.jpg]
     
Koralatov  (op)
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Oct 26, 2007, 06:49 PM
 
Originally Posted by as2 View Post
My current contract with o2 runs out next week, and considering the iPhone as an upgrade, but at the moment I pay £20 for 600 mins and 600 texts as they give me discount for being a long time customer (6 years+). I'll only be upgrading to an iPhone if they continue to do this, otherwise I'll just get a new nokia or something.
I think you're out of luck. From what I managed to glean from the O2 store's employees, the iPhone comes with no discounts whatsoever. You'd basically get the same amount of minutes and texts, but with a £25 premium for the data aspect of the contract. Probably not the best deal, from your perspective. I'd get the data for an extra tenner a month.

That said, you do have a pretty cracking contract there. I get the same for £35. But then again, I only signed up for my first contract in April of this year--I was O2 pay as you go for about five years before that. Sadly, my loyalty was not rewarded.

I think part of the reason O2 are so unwilling to give discounts on the iPhone contracts is because they pay a percentage of every contract's revenue to our good friends in Cupertino, Ca. every month. If the interweb is to be believed, it may be up to 40%.
     
benkaye25
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Nov 1, 2007, 01:17 PM
 
hi..can I confirm that you can buy an iphone from apple/o2/carphone warehouse..put ur current o2 sim card in it and it will work fine..because im 6 months into my o2 contract and i really want to be a legal iphone without all the unlocking business..i spoke to apple today and they believe that you have to buy the contract to enable it to work.

thanks
     
Koralatov  (op)
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Nov 2, 2007, 03:08 PM
 
Originally Posted by benkaye25 View Post
hi..can I confirm that you can buy an iphone from apple/o2/carphone warehouse..put ur current o2 sim card in it and it will work fine..because im 6 months into my o2 contract and i really want to be a legal iphone without all the unlocking business..i spoke to apple today and they believe that you have to buy the contract to enable it to work.
From what I've gathered with my conversations with O2 employees, I think you might need to upgrade to one of the iPhone plans. You take the phone home, and then upgrade from your current contract to one of the iPhone contracts online. I'm reasonably certain that you keep the same SIM card. Because your contract is before the cut-off date, you're eligible to upgrade to one of the iPhone plans without having to pay a 'draw-bridge' fee.

To be honest, you'll want to be on one of the iPhone's plans, because if you use it on anything else, you will get shafted big-style in data-charges. The cost per MB is truly obscene.

I hope that answers your question. If not, your best bet is to go into one of the shops and speak to the staff; there's one in every shop that knows about it (though usually only one).
     
as2
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Nov 4, 2007, 10:42 AM
 
Not liking the thought of having to get a more expensive contract to get hold of an iPhone.

With reports of the UK iPhone having new firmware 1.1.2, I'm thinking I might buy an iPhone while I'm in the states, then flash it with the new firmware?

Thoughts?
[img=http://img192.imageshack.us/img192/1300/desktj.jpg]
     
Koralatov  (op)
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Nov 4, 2007, 03:43 PM
 
Originally Posted by as2 View Post
Not liking the thought of having to get a more expensive contract to get hold of an iPhone.
It's something you kind of have to live with, sadly. There are only three iPhone tariffs, and apparently you have to use one of the three if you want to use an iPhone. As I said before, from your perspective, they're not particularly good value--with your long-term customer discount, you end up paying a £25 premium for the data plan. With me, it would only be a tenner extra a month to retain the same number of minutes and texts.

With reports of the UK iPhone having new firmware 1.1.2, I'm thinking I might buy an iPhone while I'm in the states, then flash it with the new firmware?

Thoughts?
I'm not really too technically-adept when it comes to firmware flashing, but I can't see why it would present a problem, especially seeing as you're not hacking it per se: you'd be using Apple's real firmware, so you wouldn't have to worry about it being bricked. The only thing that would concern me would be the possibility that the iPhone may have a chip inside it that identifies its default region. You'd be SOL if that was the case.

To be honest, though, you'd only really save about £60, so it may not be worth it. I think a better option overall might be buying a French iPhone, because they're all going to be unlocked...

I have a feeling there's going to be quite a swift import trade on the go once the French iPhone appears. It's the safe way of getting an unlocked iPhone--no need to worry about it turning into an iBrick if you want to unlock it.

On a related note, I've decided to wait a while before getting an iPhone. I'll possibly wait until spring next year, partly in the hopes it may go down in price or be upgraded, but mainly because it'll give O2 time to improve its EDGE coverage and also to let other people explore just how good the iPhone's EDGE coverage is.
     
as2
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Nov 4, 2007, 08:28 PM
 
o2 seem to be making some progress with their EDGE network.

I was in London last weekend, and my friend who has an EDGE compatible mobile phone, noticed that instead of displaying the usual G to indicate GPRS reception, it changed to E for EDGE whilst we were in London.

Not seen it happen anywhere else yet though.
[img=http://img192.imageshack.us/img192/1300/desktj.jpg]
     
all2ofme
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Nov 5, 2007, 02:47 AM
 
Originally Posted by Koralatov View Post
To be honest, though, you'd only really save about £60, so it may not be worth it. I think a better option overall might be buying a French iPhone, because they're all going to be unlocked...
I wouldn't bank on it being that simple - I'd imagine there are ways of having it unlocked but still a massive PITA to get working outside France. Like needing a French credit card/billing address/initial authorisation with Orange France, that sort of thing. Still, here's hoping!
     
talisker
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Nov 5, 2007, 11:38 AM
 
Originally Posted by all2ofme View Post
I wouldn't bank on it being that simple - I'd imagine there are ways of having it unlocked but still a massive PITA to get working outside France. Like needing a French credit card/billing address/initial authorisation with Orange France, that sort of thing. Still, here's hoping!
That depends exactly what the law is in France. If it's legal to sell a locked phone that you can then unlock later by meeting various eligibility criteria, then you may be right. If the law is quite simply that you can't sell a locked phone, then they will have to sell it completely unlocked at the point of sale or not sell it at all.
     
all2ofme
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Nov 5, 2007, 12:32 PM
 
When does it look like a definitive announcement re: the French option will be made?

It'd have to be good to stop me buying on Friday, though. I'm looking forward to finding out where/when I can get one - hopefully I don't need to be part of any mad rush anywhere; I hate crowds
     
Koralatov  (op)
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Nov 6, 2007, 03:29 PM
 
Originally Posted by as2 View Post
o2 seem to be making some progress with their EDGE network.

I was in London last weekend, and my friend who has an EDGE compatible mobile phone, noticed that instead of displaying the usual G to indicate GPRS reception, it changed to E for EDGE whilst we were in London.

Not seen it happen anywhere else yet though.
That's something at least. Sadly, though, London is a world unto itself in regards to mobile coverage. I have a sneaking suspicion that up here in sunny Aberdeen, I may not be so lucky. Even if I can get EDGE up here, I suspect it will be patchy to begin with, and if I go outside the city centre (say, like when I go to work in the morning), it'll probably drop off completely.

Originally Posted by talisker View Post
That depends exactly what the law is in France. If it's legal to sell a locked phone that you can then unlock later by meeting various eligibility criteria, then you may be right. If the law is quite simply that you can't sell a locked phone, then they will have to sell it completely unlocked at the point of sale or not sell it at all.
"The discovery of the French consumer law that requires mobile operators to sell handsets that are not tied to contracts with them is believed to have delayed Apple's deal with Orange" (from this Financial Times article.)

Originally Posted by all2ofme View Post
When does it look like a definitive announcement re: the French option will be made?

It'd have to be good to stop me buying on Friday, though. I'm looking forward to finding out where/when I can get one - hopefully I don't need to be part of any mad rush anywhere; I hate crowds
See above! The stores open at 6.02PM, though I suspect you'll be hard-pressed to get one on the first day. Despite the reassurances of the O2 store employees that "there will be plenty", I doubt that will be the case.
     
   
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