Quote:
Originally Posted by Shaun
So let me get this right - the phone is £269 and you can't pay cash for it*. You then need to activate it through iTunes so need to create an account with that (via Debit/Credit card) and sign up for an 18 month contract. The contract costs from £35 and gives you 200 min and 200 texts** - a truly crap tariff.
Am I the only one that thing this a ridiculous price to pay for a phone? One that then won't work properly if you decide to take it else where or switch to PAYG.
* http://media.phonehouse.com/mediaser...7&ver=1&RD=YES
**This makes texts and calls cost 8p per min/text. |
Your ** is inaccurate, because the subscription includes unlimited data downloads. I don't know how you would factor that in as I'm not any kind of expert on mobiles (mine doesn't even have a camera, wap or MMS, and I like it that way!) but if you're going to postulate a nominal cost for calls and texts, you have to spread the subscription charge across everything it buys you, not just bits of it.
As for the functionality not working if you port the number or switch to PAYG - you're signing up for an 18-month tariff so presumably that's not going to be an issue for some time. I will be extremely surprised if O2's exclusive deal with Apple is indefinite. I'd expect within a year or so to see it released to the other networks as well. Once the early adopter flurry is over, it is certainly not in Apple's interests to limit distribution, or the usefulness of the handset, in this way.
Once the handset is released from the initial 18-month contract it may also prove to be illegal under EU law to prevent its use on another network in any case.