iPhone 3GS - Available on Orange soon

[Dolph]

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/8278073.stm

Orange has reached an agreement to sell Apple's popular iPhone in the UK.

The deal ends an exclusive arrangement between UK network operate O2 and the Californian phone maker, which has been in place since 2007.

Orange said its customers would be able to buy the phone "later this year" but did not specify a date or pricing.

Orange now offers the popular handset - of which more than 25 million have been sold worldwide - in 28 countries and territories.

I'm not a fan of the handset personally (mainly because of issues I have with the way Apple do business, rather than that many issues with the handset itself), but the end of the O2 exclusive deal is certainly an interesting change in the UK mobile market.

 

[Dolph]

https://interest.orange.co.uk/default.aspx

For anyone that wants to be updated with information as it becomes available.

 

[Dolph]

And slapping a silly little orange logo on the handset somewhere.

This is only interesting if Apple don't force upon them the same pricing strategies as O2

I don't know, going from the network with the worst 3g coverage in the country to the network with the best will count for a lot for some people....

http://www.pcadvisor.co.uk/news/index.cfm?newsid=118816

 

[Dolph]

I've had an ipod touch since they came out but I like to keep my music seperate from my phone.

The Hero is excellent and the android market is fantastic. (the only reason I would have wanted an iphone for really)

I really like the Hero having had a play with it, likely to be my next upgrade unless something spectacular comes along in the meantime.

 

[Dolph]

Isn't the rationale the same that Orange/Vodafone used for disabling VOIP on the N95 when it was released i.e. they hadn't had time to test it and didn't want to support it. Instead you had to void the warranty by installing non-customised firmware.

Orange currently use unique phone (calls/internet access through the home wi-fi router via VOIP/UMA) as an early alternative to femtocells (Small 3g transmitters plugged into a broadband connection such as the Vodaphone access gateway), which have the same limitations. (Unique phone has been available for 2-3 years)

Of course I'm sure it had nothing to do with it competing with the core business, much like I'm sure iPhone app restrictions are entirely to do with customer satisfaction. Honest guv

Monetizing features/services, especially when you offer them in a fully supported capacity, is nothing new in any industry. You don't have to have unique phone activated on your account, and you don't have to use unique phone to make the wifi connection even if you do have it set up on your account (unique phone accesses the orange mobile data network via your router, hence the charge), you can simply use the wifi via your home gateway, but again support for either of those options is much more limited.

 

[Dolph]

The thing is, which i think you missed, is that people who have been on Orange for quite a few years, and are entitled to upgrade (me being one of them) have been shafted by the iPhone deals, because if it was any other phone, it would be an upgrade as normal, but because its the all signing all dancing iPhone, it doesnt matter, and therefor we dont get an "upgrade" at all, we are just allowed to enter another contract and buy a new phone 3 months early or whatever at the same price as Joe Bloggs who is new to the Orange network. See our point?

Customer Loyalty is something that keeps a business going, especially a phone network. So to say they owe us nothing is like saying "we dont care if you leave us" imo.

This is the same situation that happened on O2, there is a common factor between both situations that could be having an impact...

 

[Dolph]

Personally I think they should phase out contacts entirely. Want a £400 phone, buy a £400 phone. Then buy (much cheaper) a call plan totally seperatly.

You don't get a 'free' computer from your ISP then pay £100 a month for a year - so why do that with phones?

The networks already do this, but it isn't anywhere near as popular as the handset subsidy approach with customers.

 

[Dolph]

Yeah, damn them for choosing a quiet time to send out loads of texts. I mean, it's not like they know anything about the ebbs and flows of demands on the SMS system.

Seems they care more about SMS system load than cheesing their sleeping subscribers off, doesn't seem like a particularly apt customer focused attitude to me.

The fact that SMS messages normally arrive nearly instantly doesn't change the fact that the service is only designed to deliver messages within 24 hours of sending, and the way SMS messages are resent if you are out of service and then go back into service means that you don't necessarily receive them instantly the moment you get signal back. (The length of time between retries increases as the delivery failures occur, so it could be up to several hours between resend attempts). This issue can be further compounded by network congestion.

Orange (and the other networks) does not send messages in the early hours, but cannot prevent messages sent during the day time being received during those hours in some circumstances.

 

[Dolph]

IO have been with oraange for 10 years and i can get the i-phone 3g for 89 quid but i refuse to pay 12 pound a month for the insurance thats crazy i only pay 5 pounds now. I suggested to the guy on the phone that orange are taking the mick with the insurance prices because people want the phone. he replied with but its a expensive handset. Not 12 a month expensive.

Compared to other handsets it is, and you're not allowed to run insurance products that don't clearly cover their costs under FSA rules. Is it fairer to make Iphone users share the expensive additional costs, or should it be spread to non-iphone owners raising their premiums as well?