We thought this day would never come, but the moment is upon us. O2, the sole carrier of the popular iPhone in the UK, has officially announced its new Pay-As-You-Go plan for English iPhone users.
Although you will be forking over a hefty sum for the actual device—£350 ($631) for the 8GB Model and £400 ($721) for the 16GB model—monthly costs will be reduced a fair bit. Should you choose to go the cheapest route, you will only be paying between £10 and £14 ($18 and $25) for 500 minutes that can be used to phone any UK land line or O2 cell number. One step up from that and you will be paying between £15 and £29 ($27 and $52) for 1,000 minutes, also only to land lines and O2 cells. The third and final option weighs in at £30+ ($54+), and nets you an unlimited number of calls.
As for add-ons, read on. For the first year, use of the 3G network and O2 wi-fi for internet access will be free, and £10 ($18) after that. As texting is not included in the plan, you will end up paying 10p per message. Overages on calling will cost 5p per minute.
These prepaid phones and plans will be available starting on September 16th, from both O2 stores, Apple Stores, and the Carphone Warehouse.
Product [iPhone]
A very sloppy piece of reporting as you failed to mention one very important piece of information. The included minutes are only available for use from within a specified postcode (zipcode) region so as soon as you leave that postcode you have to pay for the calls. What a nasty little catch, Thanks O2!