I've been running my "old" unlocked iPhone 3G with my Orange dongle sim in for a while now as I upgraded to the 3GS when it came out (Grrr!!). As for as the network coverage goes, where I use it on the road anywhere up from Leeds to Berwick area I have found Orange to blow O2 out of the water. Where Orange has no 3G they seem to have a much better Edge reach than O2 have and I have found places where Orange's Edge is better and faster than O2's 3G!!

I think i will be one of the many who drop their O2 tariffs down to the bare minimum and stick the Sim in a drawer and get a shiny new Orange 3GS!

I bet O2 wish they had agreed to let all of us who wanted to extend our existing iPhone 3G contracts when the 3GS came out as they could have tied us all in for another 24 months! I wonder how many will leave in December when the original 3G contracts come to an end.....

The iphone is full of hype and people fall for it hook, line and sinker.

Not a phone I would choose, but peoples taste differ, it is a nice to muck around with, but as a phone so called full of features it is to be honest not as good as other phjones.

The only reason the Iphone sold well was because it was different, the first Iphone was to be honest awful, but Apple marketed it at the younger generation as something that was different.

But now other phone makers are doing the same sort of GUI system, Apple is slowly losing ground, no doubt the reason why they are now going to Orange as well, there are phones out there that have better hardware than the Iphone.

TBH, I just want a phone to be a phone, if I want to take pictures, I use a cameras, if I want to listen to music I use a MP3 player, if I want to browse the net I use a computer, all far better at doing those jobs than any phone.

Oh yes, I am not a Apple hater as I like their computers.

The main attraction to the device is the apps, not the phone itself, although the GUI is nice.

I'm betting there's some deal with Apple to prevent network operators from reducing the "value" of their product, so even with competition, I doubt they'll be price cuts.

Will other carriers like Vodafone ever offer the device? O2's coverage in certain remote areas I visit always put me off the iPhone, Orange isn't as bad but it's still not the best in those areas.

In your opinion, judging by iPhone sales to date many others don't seem to share it.


Again in your opinion, and frankly it was something that was different which is why everyone else is playing catch up.


The iPhone has never been about the hardware, it's been about the usability of the product. Something that people ALWAYS seem to miss including competitors to the iPhone.

I was subtly hinting that I knew the answer but had to be careful how I worded it as I don't want to be seen leaking information that isn't already in the public domain. Which is why I asked the really rhetorical question "Would Apple let Orange brand the iPhone?"

However on the F&F side of things - I'd refer to similar products as much as I could such as the aforementioned Nokia CMW tarrrifs and Laptop/Netbooks - which you are not allowed the F&F Discount on. The F&F Discount is only available on Animal Tarrifs - and the iPhone will be launching on it's own specific tarrifs. I'd have to leave you to make your own conclusions from that.

Orange Telesales staff are extremely well paid bonus wise. But they also do a 1st Class job, and perform exceptionally well.

When I used to work for O2 they outsourced a lot of their work, for example Retentions were handled by an Outsource call centre near Barnsley called Ventura. I'm not sure if they still operate like that as I left a few years ago, but at that time Retentions staff for O2 were paid no bonus!

If it was all hype then people wouldn't go back and get the next version of it when it became available! Since owning the original iPhone I haven't looked back and got the 3G as soon as it was available (as O2 were very good about it and allowed original iPhone users to upgrade early without penalty), and I also got the 3GS when it was available too - though this time round I bought it on PAYG as I was still in contract and the same early upgrade deal wasn't available. If it was all hype then I would have gone back to Nokia or SE, but it wasn't and the iPhone is just a joy to use and a brilliant convergence device.


If all you care about is a list of raw tech specs and specific features then sure, the iPhone tends to fall short of a lot of the other offerings out there, but to be honest I don't think it has ever been marketed as "full of features". It has been marketed as an extremely useable mobile phone/internet convergence device, and in that regard it has excelled (admittedly the internet side of things wasn't too hot until the 3G version arrived).

The AppStore is what has really catapulted it ahead of the competition in my view though - which is why the others are falling over themselves to try and copy it, but it will take them a long time to catch up now that Apple has such a strong foothold.

Pretty much, Points to be redeemed as vouchers. However the points are only on insurance, and the odd handset, and not the iphone which is what 80% of customers walk out with!



Free stuff I just meant their random givaways of games consoles and accessories they used to do afaik

According to a Guardian article, O2 have quietly renegotiated their deal with Apple. Which sees an end to the revenue sharing, and hence will allow them to cut prices. We could see a mini price war at the end of the year.

It also mentions that Apple are in talks with Vodafone, who are expected to sign a deal. (But not in time for christmas)

Okay, I've been having a look at what tariffs Orange offer. From what I gather, they only seem to offer inclusive internet on the higher priced tariffs. For lower priced monthly and PAYG tariffs, it's £2 a day. Do they not offer fixed fee web bolt ons like O2 do?

I would hope they'll come up with something more iPhone friendly when they get it, considering iPhone users tend to be quite heavy users of data networks, while not necessarily heavy users of minutes & texts.

yyyyyyeeeeeeeesssssssssssss!!!!!!!

so i can finally tell o2 and their 3g network powered by a hamster on a wheel to jog on!!!!!!

excellent excellent news

help will it be available on PAYG as i want to keep current orange number

how much will handset be?

O2 really will have to buck their ideas up now.

As a customer whose contract with them is nearing its end, I'm really frustrated with their current lack of non-iPhone options. The range of handsets they offer currently falls way short of the selection on offer from other networks and their tariffs seem to have gone from being the most competetive to absolutely extortionate. They also seem to have done away with retention offers - I've phoned a few times and simply will not offer me anything close to the value-for-money my current contract offers.

As a result of that, I'd played with the idea of upgrading to an iPhone. But availability and pricing leave a lot to be desired. Once Orange and Vodafone are carrying the iPhone, on top of their existing superior selection of handsets, will there be any reason for me to stay with O2? Probably not.

At Upgrade or point of connection there is a 500Mb Data bundle for £5 a month currently available, or if you are in life a 250mb bundle for £7.50 (the idea was to get people to take it at connection).

Unlimited Data bundles are launching in October and then the launch of the iPhone tarrifs which will have Unlimited Data, will launch in November according to speculation.

Ofcom have just tweeted about Orange/o2 iPhone... check who's got the best coberage in your area using ofcom site...


"Ofcom With the iPhone soon to be available on both O2 and Orange, which has the best 3G coverage in your area? http://************/mkw3um "

You'll havr to go to @ofcom on twitter to get the link

i can answer it for you^^^^^ orange

Great news

Fairly irrelvent but it's been the source of much amusement in the office today.

Girl at work has gone on for weeks about hating to leave Orange but desperate to have a iPhone... so last Friday after much gnashing of teeth and many years as customer left Orange to get a IPhone from O2.

Yes..just last Friday and then this announcement today..

Would this mean that the ever so famous visual voicemail would be on orange as well ?

well i still got a while in my contract with O2 yet, but if they do lower there prices i take it i will have to wait 9months into my contract to get the new lower price?

Now maybe it is, but not when the phone first came out, there was not that amount of apps to bother about.



No, there will not be any price cuts, you may get a slightly better deal if you play one carrier against another.


I have no idea, I know around here Orange signal is a bit hit and miss and so is T-Mobile, Vodafone whihc used to be the best is not that great in some parts of the city.

It seems like around here O2 have the best signal.
But saying that, where I live, Vodafone is fine, my BT HTC phone shows full signal strength, so do my o9ld old O2 phone, but it is the rest of the city that Vodfone fails on.

Which proves the point that they been roped in by hype, hook, line and sinker.



The same as the Ipod, the player itself was not fantastic, but it was the design that people went for. Like there are far better MP3 players out there than the Ipod.

I think a lot of them have caught up, there some good phones out there if you want touch screen, don't appeal to me, I just want a phone that works, with a screen I can see, not strugling to see it when the sun is shining and yes my own phone have that problem.

In fact the only 2 phones I have tried that I can see the screen in sunlight is a Blackberry and believe it or a not a LG viewty. That is not counting my old 3310 of cause.



so the usability is good, but the phone is a load of crap, oh great.

As a phone it works, it is just when you compare it to other phones you realise how naff the hardware was and Apple covered it up with the user interface.

It took a long time for Apple to realise how bad the phone was.


At the end of the day, people will buy what they buy, what getting on my nerves at the moment is this thing that touch screen is what we must havem, if you don't have touch screen then it is old fashioned.

I am on BT broadband anywhere, so I have got a HTC phone, which is not top of the range and have not been for a while, but for £5 a month, you can't expect anything else.
There is talk that BT is going to relaunch BT broadband anywhere and will be offering new phones to it users and the talk is they will be touch screen phones. but why is it that people think we all like touch screen phones?

I find using a touch screen to be honest horrid, some things are ok, but when you type a text it is like using a ZX81 keyboard, even on the Iphone.

A good old keypad is the best way.

Like digital cameras that have screens on the back and no viewfinder, and it is all suppose to be progress.

Because they think they should or they miss out on something.


Maybe you are one of the ones who do like using the phone bas it is, not one of the ones who think they must have a Iphone because it is a Iphone.

Like some people who think having a Ipod is the greatest thing and that anyone who have not got a Ipod have no idea what they are missing.

I heard it time and time again.



TBH, I don't give two hoots about raw specs of a phone. when friends get a new phone and just have to show me what it can do, I have very little interest.

A phone for me have to have good battery life, something the Iphone do fall down on and to be honest so do a lot of phones.

My HTC s710 will last for 4 days on standby and even if I use the MP3 player in it, I can still get over 2 days of life out of it. In use the battery life is pretty close to my old Samsung, which is pretty good considering that it runs a operating system.

So, battery life, a cellar screen, something which my phone gives as long as it is not sunny. Easy to use and see icons. Easy to use contact list and a nice keypad.

That is it, my phone have a sliding out QWERTY keypad, which is why I paid extra for it.


the only time I use the Wi-fi part is when I been at my friends place, because I can use BT broadband talk to make free phone calls thought it, the camera I use a few times, but not essential.

I just want a phone to make and recieve calls and send the odd text.


But what do most people use the apps for? I bet 90% of the apps people have on their Iphone does nothing useful.


Maybe I am being old fashin and think a phone is a phone, it is something for me to use to keep in contact.

If I had a choice I would not even bother with a mobile phone, they are a pain in the backside.

I would imagine so as it's an integral part of the phone and a much touted feature.

I think the answer to that will be quite obvious! Orange!!