O2 getting iPhone in the UK on 11/9 - still an Edge device

So it's a lot more expensive, but then, technology in general is more expensive in the UK and Europe.

This is interesting. Not only did they not release a 3G phone (it was widely expected that they would), the support for EDGE is referred to as an "upgrade". I think the reporter didn't quite get it and I think that UK consumers will be put off by slow speeds, where US consumers seem not to have been. I know lots of folks here and in the press complained about EDGE when the iPhone was released, but it hasn't seemed to affect sales much - Apple at least claims it is meeting its unit sales targets. But Europeans are more sophisticated when it comes to phones and I bet will have higher expectations.


SW

 

It will be interesting to see how O2 fares with this. I wonder if the true costs of all of this will be worth it in the end, no matter how "trendy" this phone is?

 

Not when it comes to handsets in the UK. I got my N95 for free with a £35/month contract from Orange, the RRP of the N95 is £499. A £35/month 18 month contract usually means that just about any handset will be either free or very cheap; £269 is a lot of money to pay for a handset with that sort of contract especially when the handset has no 3G, a low-end camera and various other limitations.

It's a complete joke if you ask me. O2's EDGE network covers around 30% of the population, which means that the geographic area covered is probably quite small given the population density of the UK (637 people per square mile). Wi-Fi is all very fine and well and the fact that it comes with free access to Cloud's network is good, but Wi-Fi access, for all its advantage of speed, just doesn't compare in terms of coverage.

Some thoughts:

The iPhone will do well in the UK to start with, but unless there is a reduction in price it will probably decline after Christmas. The other networks are likely to intensify competition with O2 to mitigate any effect the iPhone might have on their own business. For example, Vodafone have recently announced a flat rate music service that allows unlimited music downloads as well as a range of new handsets for the Christmas period including the F700.

O2 may have potentially buggered themselves if they have agreed to share 40% of the revenue with Apple. If that is indeed the deal that was reached I can see why the other UK networks might have thought it wasn't worth it. If many iPhone users don't have access to EDGE and aren't always within range of a hotspot O2 might find that many will simply not bother downloading music or using the web features with GPRS.

 

I have come to realize that the Iphone has a nitch market and many of the users don't realy know anything about the diference between EDGE and UMTS. I got to speak to many who saw it as just good (while us tech savy users know what it all meens). Now as to the 40% share, it seems that this was O2's offer and is part of its bid to get the iphone on its line up and it was not Apple.

 

Granted that many people may not realise the technical differences between EDGE and UMTS or HSDPA, but they will appreciate how fast their handset can do certain tasks e.g. download music, surf the web, etc. It wouldn't be quite so bad if O2 had a decent EDGE network since EDGE wouldn't actually be too shabby for browsing and small to medium downloads. However, the fact that they only have around 30% coverage of the population, not the geographic area, is rather pathetic in my opinion when they are offering a handset that will largely depend on EDGE.

If O2 did offer a 40% deal to Apple they must be more desperate than I thought.

 

Knowing how the internet is so expensive in Europe, it will be funny to see that an iPhone, even on EDGE, can actually surf the web faster than the average European home computer.

But I wonder if we'll see Prince Harry or Prince William in line at the O2 store camping at 3AM waiting for the release of the iPhone....or maybe we'll see the Queen herself! LOL!

 

I expect the iPhone to tank in Europe. Mainly because everyone expects subsidised phones. If I can get a similar subsidised smart phone from Ericsson or Nokia for 1/4 of the price of an iPhone, it's really a no-brainer :loony: People who buy the iPhone in the UK will really have to go out of their way and be hell-bent to get one if they will pay 2x to 3x the price of other smart phones. And given the marketing/media bliz was mainly a US thing, the average European doesn't really know or care what an iPhone is.

I'm not sure why O2 doesn't have a better existing EDGE network? Maybe they figured to just by-pass it in favour of 3G? Anyway, they must have GPRS coverage in more than 30% of pop coverage, right?

 

Because I have satellite telly I get a broadband deal from the same company; 8 Mbps for £5/month (approx $10/month). I could also get 16 Mbps for £10/month (approx $20/month) or a 2 Mbps connection for free with my TV package. Orange have been giving away free broadband with some of their mobile contracts. In general the price of broadband is fairly cheap now.

Incidentally the U.S. lags behind eleven European countries for average broadband speed in a recent study.

Well the Carphonewarehouse is the official supplier of mobile equipment to HM the Queen ...

 

There isn't really a need for EDGE since UMTS/HSDPA has been deployed. Most handsets sold in the UK don't have EDGE and those that do either have other connectivity options e.g. UMTS, HSDPA, etc or aren't likely to be used for data intensive activities i.e. they aren't smartphones or multimedia handsets.

O2's GPRS network should have pretty much the same coverage as their voice network, that is more than 99% of the population. Who wants to use GPRS though? Don't get me wrong, it's good a pinch, but would you want GPRS as your normal data connection on a device that is supposed to be a multimedia device?