O2's dramatic u-turn on "unlimited" iPhone data issues

"If we say unlimited, it should be unlimited"

5 November 2007 10:26 GMT / By Amy-Mae Elliott

O2 has made a dramatic u-turn on its "unlimited" data plans for the UK iPhone.

We brought you news back in October that, once examined closely, the original "unlimited" offer boiled down to just 200MB of data per month.

Which means if you did want to look at 1400 web pages a day, as promised at the UK launch, they would have to be an unrealistic less than 5kb in size each.

But, O2 has responded to the outcry about this situation and issued the following statement, from Sally Cowdry, marketing director at O2 UK:

"When we announced our new iPhone tariffs back in September we broke new ground for O2, introducing unlimited use of mobile data services and The Cloud's public Wi-Fi network."

"The iPhone offers the best internet on mobile experience in the market and we want customers to enjoy this without limit or worries about being charged a penny more."

"To avoid abuse of this offering, a fair use policy was set in place at an amount that's miles beyond expected average use."

"This policy was intended to prevent commercial exploitation or using the iPhone as a modem, both of which would put everyone else's experience at risk."

"We now appreciate that having set limits as part of the fair use policy conflicted with our objective of encouraging internet usage on the iPhone."

"People don't speak in megabites and customer feedback has been that if we say unlimited, it should be unlimited."

"We have listened to our customers and will be lifting these limits so that our original intention - for you to use your iPhone to your heart's content - is what it's all about with no confusion or distraction."

"We look forward to our customers enjoying the fantastic internet experience on their iPhone when it goes on sale next Friday."