O2 & CarphoneWarehouse "Unlimited Web Bolt On" £7.50pm

sketchead

Hi

So I was on a Sim Only contract with O2 at the Carphone Warehouse which included 600 minutes, 1200 texts and Unlimited Blackberry Data as a bolt-on. I have since bought an iPhone on Pay as you Go and want to use my existing sim card in it.

After several phonecalls with Carphone Warehouse I seem to have come to the conclusion that I can cancel my Blackberry bolt-on and add the "Unlimited Web" bolt on, which is chargeable at £7.50 per month.

Now comes the tricky part, I can't for the life of me find a definite answer on whether this sim card includes *Unlimited* data usage. When buying from O2, apparantly the usage is Unlimited, but then supposedly from Carphone Warehouse there is a 200MB limit. I have also been told 250MB 500MB and Unlimited.

I don't really care how much my limit is, I just don't want to go over it! So if anyone knows, or anyone has done the same as me (iPhone with this Bolt-on) please shed some light!

Thankyou

expatriate

It sounds like the reason you are confused is due to 'sales talk' or a lack of knowledge on their part.

Prior to the 26th Feb 2010 O2 used to have a fair usage policy of 200MB however then changed their tariffs to unlimited. Presumably to be more competitive against Orange (500MB) and T-Mob (1GB) who were offering larger amounts.

Secondly the main difference between O2 CPW and O2 is that your billing details will be with one or the other. It is true that deals will vary between the two companies (marketing campaigns, early upgrades, loyalty, etc) but essentially your service is still with O2.

Furthermore what is quite comical to your situation is that when you take an upgrade with an iPhone contract or service through CPW you will leave their service and go through O2 Direct anyway! Note: you still keep the same number but they will send you a new sim card.

Therefore, for £25/mth you can receive 600min, Unlimited Text and Unlimited UK Data on a one month contract. Alternatively if you move to a 12mth contract you can bring the price down to £20/mth for the same service and also benefit from International Travel Service (just make sure you ask for an iPhone Simplicity and not a regular one).

sketchead

expatriate wrote: »

It sounds like the reason you are confused is due to 'sales talk' or a lack of knowledge on their part.

Prior to the 26th Feb 2010 O2 used to have a fair usage policy of 200MB however then changed their tariffs to unlimited. Presumably to be more competitive against Orange (500MB) and T-Mob (1GB) who were offering larger amounts.

Secondly the main difference between O2 CPW and O2 is that your billing details will be with one or the other. It is true that deals will vary between the two companies (marketing campaigns, early upgrades, loyalty, etc) but essentially your service is still with O2.

Furthermore what is quite comical to your situation is that when you take an upgrade with an iPhone contract or service through CPW you will leave their service and go through O2 Direct anyway! Note: you still keep the same number but they will send you a new sim card.

Therefore, for £25/mth you can receive 600min, Unlimited Text and Unlimited UK Data on a one month contract. Alternatively if you move to a 12mth contract you can bring the price down to £20/mth for the same service and also benefit from International Travel Service (just make sure you ask for an iPhone Simplicity and not a regular one).

Thankyou very much for clearing that up for me. So the "Unlimited Web Bolt On" is actually unlimited, and not 200MB?

Also, I have found that I may continue using my Blackberry Unlimited Internet Bolt-On which I don't have to pay for, and hopefully it'll work in my iPhone with a quick change of settings. I'll try that later today

Thanks again for the advice it was very helpful.

Regards

EDIT: After reading your post, I was inspired to go on a search for the answer, I googled "o2 fairusage 26th feb" and found their small print. A quick skim through found this:

Data Bolt On, Smartphone Bolt On and Blackberry Bolt On Terms for mobile web usage

1. The Web Bolt On, Smartphone Bolt On and BlackBerry Bolt On allows you unlimited use of Telef!nica O2 UK Limited‘s Edge/GPRS/ 3G networks (as applicable to your handset), for personal internet use via your mobile phone. All usage must be for your private, personal and non-commercial purposes. You may not use your SIM Card:
   • in, or connected to, any other device including modems;
   • to allow the continuous streaming of any audio / video content, enable Voice over Internet (Voip), P2P or file sharing; or
   • in such a way that adversely impacts the service to other O2 customers.
   If O2 reasonably suspects you are not acting in accordance with this policy O2 reserves the right to impose further charges, impose network protection controls which may reduce your speed of transmission, remove the Web Bolt On from your account or disconnect your tariff at any time, having attempted to contact you first.

Sounds about right

Regards

MRC_2

sketchead wrote: »

Thankyou very much for clearing that up for me. So the "Unlimited Web Bolt On" is actually unlimited, and not 200MB?

Also, I have found that I may continue using my Blackberry Unlimited Internet Bolt-On which I don't have to pay for, and hopefully it'll work in my iPhone with a quick change of settings. I'll try that later today

Thanks again for the advice it was very helpful.

Regards

EDIT: After reading your post, I was inspired to go on a search for the answer, I googled "o2 fairusage 26th feb" and found their small print. A quick skim through found this:



Sounds about right

Regards

You'll get charged for any internet usage using a blackberry bolt on, that isn't used with a blackberry.

It has different settings and blackberry one runs through the blackberry server.

sketchead

Thanks for the reply. I've done some research and it seems that I would, however in O2's smallprint they say:

BlackBerry Internet Solution from O2 Unlimited allows you to send and receive as many emails as you like, surf the web using the BlackBerry browser and via O2 Active WAP browsing, get unlimited use of Yahoo!® Messenger instant messaging and download satellite navigation services in the UK only. On non RIM manufactured devices (BlackBerry Connect devices) web browsing depends on the browser you use.

So I looked up the APN settings for O2 Active Wap and put them into the iPhone. Connected up to the web fine. I also found a lot of people on the internet using Blackberry tarrifs with iPhone and they had no problems. Hopefully I'm sorted now, just need to wait 48hours to check up on my data usage on my bill.

Fingers crossed

Toe-Jam

You shouldn't be paying £.7.50 for the Unlimited web bolt on, it should be free and a direct replacement for your Unlimited BB bolt on. Simplicity tariffs come with 1 free bolt on.

sketchead

I agree with you ToeJam, but according to CPW I can't change my free bolt on. I am getting a fast 3G connection with my blackberry sim in my iPhone and it doesn't appear to be charging me! So fingers crossed.

Toe-Jam

sketchead wrote: »

I agree with you ToeJam, but according to CPW I can't change my free bolt on. I am getting a fast 3G connection with my blackberry sim in my iPhone and it doesn't appear to be charging me! So fingers crossed.

I was under the impression that if you connect the Blackberry Tariff via mobile.o2.co.uk APN (which is what regular phones use) that it charges you.

I asked them that very question last week and they said it does charge you, so be careful sometimes data takes a few days to show up.

sketchead

Thanks for the advice ToeJam, and you are correct, connecting via the mobile.o2.co.uk APN will charge you. However, as stated in the terms and conditions which can be found here: shop.o2.co.uk/tariffSmallPrint

BlackBerry Internet Solution from O2 Unlimited allows you to send and receive as many emails as you like, surf the web using the BlackBerry browser and via O2 Active WAP browsing, get unlimited use of Yahoo!® Messenger instant messaging and download satellite navigation services in the UK only. On non RIM manufactured devices (BlackBerry Connect devices) web browsing depends on the browser you use. Some devices use O2 Mobile Web which is charged at an additional £1 per MB. All usage must be for your private, personal and non-commercial purposes. You may not use your SIM Card:

• to allow the continuous streaming of any audio / video content, enable Voice over Internet (Voip), P2P or file sharing; or
• in such a way that adversely impacts the service to other O2 customers.

If O2 reasonably suspects you are not acting in accordance with this policy O2 reserves the right to impose further charges, impose network protection controls which may reduce your speed of transmission or disconnect your SIM or tariff at any time, having attempted to contact you first.

It says that you are allowed unlimited usage of "O2 Active WAP" (APN: wap.o2.co.uk). I have been connecting using that APN on my iPhone with no problem at all. By the sounds of the T&C, there isnt the 200MB fair usage policy which is included on the £7.50 bolt on, an added bonus