Compare Mobile PhonesMobile News
O2 ends ‘unlimited’ mobile internet for smartphones
Friday, 11 June 2010
By James Sherwood James@consumerchoices.co.uk
If you spend too much time on the web, you’ll need to buy £5 or £10 mobile internet ‘bolt-ons’.
O2 will end unlimited 3G mobile internet services for its smartphone customers this October.
The network has instead designed six new Smartphone tariffs that will cap your monthly mobile internet allowance over 3G to either 500MB, 750MB or 1GB.
For example, O2’s £25 per month smartphone tariff – the cheapest one available – will limit mobile internet use to 500MB. £40 per month gets you a 750MB mobile internet allowance.
If you need a higher mobile internet allowance you must buy a “bolt-on” in advance, 02 said. Two options will be available: £5 for an extra 500MB and £10 for 1GB.
O2 has rejected claims that its new smartphone tariffs will end-up costing customers more money.
“97% of O2 smartphone customers would not need to buy additional data allowances, as the lowest bundle [£25 per month for 500MB] provides at least 2.5 times the average O2 customer’s current use”, 02 said in a statement.
Most networks already cap their “unlimited” mobile internet tariffs at 500MB or 1GB per month. Others charge customers extra if they use mobile internet services excessively.
O2’s new smartphone tariffs will be introduced from 24 June – the iPhone 4’s UK launch date. However, each of the six packages will continue to offer truly unlimited mobile internet until October.
Chris Eagle, marketing director at Mobilechoices.co.uk, said: “Surfing the internet from a smartphone over a Wi-Fi connection will always be free and unlimited for O2 customers.”