Tag: Tethering

Ofcom offers glimmer of hope in O2 tethering row

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Consumer blog Bitterwallet has posted an interesting update concerning the ongoing issue of whether O2 should be allowed to charge for iPhone tethering.

The row essentially boils down to the fact that O2 are proposing a £14.68 – £29.36 monthly bolt-on charge for customers who want to use their iPhone to tether 3G data to their laptops. iPhone customers already have a plan in place with O2 whereby they can download, supposedly, unlimited data, so customers would be paying extra for data they’ve already paid for.

Bitterwallet’s post includes a letter from a reader who contacted Ofcom to complain about O2’s proposal. The reader was told that “without further calls to them about this issue” any action Ofcom might take would not go forward. This implies that Ofcom will need more people to lodge a complaint before any action is taken.

If you did want to complain then Ofcom can be reached on 020 7981 3040 or 0300 123 3333.

Paul Lamkin iPhone

3 launch one month contract mobile broadband

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3 have today announced a new one-month contract mobile broadband offering. The package offers 5GB of data allowance a month for £15.

They claim that it’s “Britain’s most flexible and affordable contract” and we’re not going to argue with them. I’ve had a little look around and it is bloomin’ good value compared to the other players in the market.

For the same price and contract terms, Vodafone will only give you 1GB and Orange and O2 will only allow 3GB.

If you’re using 3 mobile broadband on pay-as-you-go at the moment, you’ll simply need to pop a new, free sim card into your dongle. New customers will need to buy a new dongle – they sell the Huawei MF627, E156g and E1550 for £19.99.

The plan is called “Broadband 5GB 1 Month” – I hope they didn’t pay the marketing geniuses too much too come up with that one – and it’s available online here.

Mobile broadband is becoming ever more popular and this is certainly a good deal if you want to go down that path. Consider if you really need to though, many 3G phones will allow you to share your 3G connection with your laptop using apps like JoikuSpot. And the iPhone will now allow tethering – even if this might not be a cheap option at present.

TechDigest writer Broadband

iPhone 3GS: prices and plans on O2

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O2 has pretty much matched what AT&T is charging for the new iPhone packages by replacing the dollar sign with a pound. I didn’t know the exchange rate was that bad? Oh no, wait a minute, it isn’t!

While prices in the States have gone down, in the UK, they’ve actually gone up. O2, who’s got some serious explaining to do today, has jacked the 16GB iPhone 3G up from £149 to £184.98 if you wish to add the letter S and a slightly better camera. The 8GB iPhone 3G which costs an equivalent £61 in America is £96.89 over here.

The 32GB iPhone 3GS comes in at £274.23 and all three of theses prices stay until you get to the £44.05 per month tariff with 1200 minutes and 500 texts. With the lower packages, you’ll either pay £34.26 per month for 600 mins and 500 texts or £29.38 for 75 mins and 125 texts. Watch those texts, though. One MMS will take away four in one go!

For straight PAYG

  • iPhone 3G 8GB – £342.50
  • iPhone 3G S 16GB – £440.40
  • iPhone 3G S 32GB – £538.30

So, how do you feel about this? Will you be buying? Will you be upgrading and will you be forking out for the tethering bolt-on on top of this?

iPhone on O2

Daniel Sung iPhone, Mobile phones