O2 announces new Apple iPhone tariffs

O2, Apple’s original mobile partner in the UK, is to overhaul its iPhone tariffs.

Mobile News reports O2 will launch a two-year Apple iPhone tariff for £25 per month. The tariff will include 100 minutes and unlimited texts.

According to Mobile News, Apple’s smartphone is also expected to be made available with O2’s Simplicity SIM-only tariffs for the first time, with the iPhone available at full price.

Free ‘unlimited’ bolt-on deals, available to high-value customers, will controversially be dropped, which may put O2 at a disadvantage with rivals Orange and Vodafone.

The Website notes O2 has also removed inclusive picture messaging as part of its text bundles, as well as international texting. The company will now charge customers 10p per minute to call their voicemail if outside of their minute bundle.

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Vodaphone, RIM CEOs sound alarm over wireless data crisis

Vodaphone CEO Vittorio Colao took to stage at Mobile World Congress is Spain this week to warn that smartphones—representing the only growth proposition in mobile phone sales—will soon begin to outstrip wireless networks' capacity to send and receive data. While chipmakers, handset makers, and services providers are all cashing in on the growth, mobile carriers are left trying to "cope" with the growing demand for data from increasingly data-hungry phones.

Echoing comments from AT&T Mobility CEO Ralph de la Vega late last year, Colao said that new business models need to be created to enable carriers to invest in improved network infrastructure while still earning profits. In effect, Colao is saying that users should be charged more for using more data. Also, he seems to be pointing a finger at Google—though it's not clear why—saying that its hold on a large majority of the search and mobile ad business needs to be "looked at," according to Reuters.

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Vodafone Sells 50,000 iPhones in First 24 Hours

Vodafone, the fourth carrier in the UK to get the iPhone, had an impressive first day of sales, unloading more than 50,000 iPhones on Thursday alone according to The Independent. To put that in perspective, Vodafone sold 30,000 more iPhones in a single day than Google sold Nexus Ones in a full week.

What's perhaps most interesting about the news is that in the UK the iPhone is already sold by Orange, O2 (whose exclusive deal with Apple expired at the end of 2009), and Tesco. In fact, Vodafone actually out sold Orange by a ratio of 5:3 for the first 24 hour period.

The Independent writes:

"There had been fears the group would see customers move to rival operators as a result. However, one company insider said: "When we didn't get the iPhone initially, everyone predicted that customers would leave. These sales figures have proved that wrong."
This came despite Vodafone offering customers the device on a similar tariff to Orange and O2, scotching talk that a bitter price war was set to break out. Both Orange and Vodafone have instead looked to sell the phone off the strength of their networks. Mr Laurence reiterated yesterday that the "exceptional demand" had been driven by the strength of the company's network."

If anything, Vodafone's initial success with the iPhone clearly demonstrates that each additional carrier matters to Apple's bottom-line, and may even serve as a bit of foreshadowing for the day that Verizon gets the iPhone in the United States.

Tesco to offer iPhone in the UK

Supermarket giant Tesco has joined a growing number of UK firms offering Apple's popular iPhone.

A spokesperson for the firm said that it hoped to offer the phone "in time for Christmas". Although Tesco has not revealed tariffs, the spokesperson said that its prices were "competitive". In September, it was revealed that O2 had lost its exclusive deal to sell the phone, which had been in place since its launch in 2007. Both Vodafone and Orange have signed deals to sell the phone.

Orange has already begun selling the touchscreen whilst Vodafone will offer it from early 2010. Orange said it had sold more than 30,000 handsets on its first day. Tesco Mobile is a joint venture with O2. It offers phones on both contract and pay as you go tariffs from its stores around the UK. O2 has offered the iPhone in the UK for more than two years. Its popularity allowed the firm to win subscribers from other networks, according to analysts. Earlier this year, O2 said it had sold more than 1m of the phones. All of the firms will offer the iPhone 3G and the newer iPhone 3GS.