o2 announce iPhone 4 tariffs and handset pricing

Following Orange and Vodafone‘s official (and not quite so official) announcements, o2 have now posted up their prices and tariffs for the new  iPhone4 handsets.

New or upgrading customers can get the iPhone 4 on an 18 or 24 month tariff, or users can choose to pay the full Pay & Go price for an iPhone 4 and select one of o2’s “Pay Monthly simplicity for iPhone tariff.”

All of the tariffs for the iPhone include Visual Voicemail, up to 1GB of UK data and unlimited Wi-Fi.

Curious pricing

Curiously, it reads to us that the phone is more expensive on a 24month contract than it is on an 18month contract, which seems a bit odd to us. Why would anyone go for a lengthy 24 month deal if they could get the phone for less on a shorter contract?

Here’s o2’s full details from their website:

How do I get one?
New customers can buy one from any O2 shop, online, Apple Store, The Carphone Warehouse or Phones4U from 24 June onwards.

With O2, you need to be over 18 to get an iPhone on Pay Monthly, pass a credit check and have a bank account for the monthly Direct Debit. You’ll also need an email address because we’ll email you your bills.

If you’re going to an O2 shop, Apple Store or Phones4U, you’ll need to take two forms of ID that show your address.

To activate your iPhone, you’ll need a computer with iTunes and an internet connection. Go here to find out more about iTunes.

Existing customers upgrading to iPhone 4
If you don’t have an iPhone or you really want to get the latest iPhone, find out about upgrading to iPhone 4.
If you’ve already got an iPhone 3G or 3GS, you can get the latest iOS 4 software for free once it launches. More details to follow.

Keep your number
You can switch to Pay Monthly on O2 and keep your number. Just call your current network and ask for a PAC code. Then give it to us when you buy your iPhone or tell us online when your iPhone arrives. It takes about two working days to move the number over. We’ll give you a temporary number so you can start using your iPhone in the meantime.

iPhones might not always be available. We’ll run a credit check. You must sign up to an 18 month, 24 month or ‘simplicity’ 30 day or 12 month contract and pay by Direct Debit. Any data you use abroad isn’t included. Unlimited Wi-Fi (within reason) is available at thousands of Wi-Fi hotspots with our partners The Cloud and BT Openzone.

Calls/texts made in UK to standard UK landlines/mobiles only. Calls to most 08 numbers cost 20p/min, or 35p/min for 0871. Calls to numbers starting 070 cost 50p/min. For a full list of charges for these numbers, see o2.co.uk/specialnumbers.

Pay & Go tariffs

You may know this, but you don’t need a monthly contract to get an iPhone. iPhone 4 will be coming soon to Pay & Go but it won’t be available at launch. When we have more information on pricing we will let you know.

If you’re already on Pay & Go with O2 and buying the iPhone 4, you’ll need to transfer your existing O2 number, balance and tariff onto the new micro sim. You can do this by filling in this form.

New to O2 and want to keep your number?
If you’re new to O2, you can switch to O2 and keep your number. Just call your network and ask for a PAC code. Then give it to us when you buy your iPhone or tell us online when your iPhone arrives. It takes about two working days after that to move the number over. We’ll give you a temporary number so you can start using your iPhone in the meantime. After that your old sim won’t work, so make sure you’ve moved all your contacts and listened to your voicemails before you fill in the form.

Text and Web for iPhone
When you first get your new iPhone, it’ll be on our Text & Web tariff. From 1 October 2010, Text & Web will include unlimited Wi-Fi. Excessive usage policy and terms apply, see o2.co.uk.

The more you top up, the more texts you’ll get:

• Top up £10-£14. Get 300 texts and 500MB internet
• Top up £15-£29. Get 500 texts and 500MB internet
• Top up £30 or more. Get unlimited texts and 500MB internet

You can switch tariffs once a month, though. See the other tariffs

Once you’ve used up your allowance, texts are 10p each. Find out more about what costs what.

With Text & Web, the texts you get when you top up on this tariff don’t include sending picture messages.

Each picture message will cost 25p. Or if you want to send a lot of picture messages, you can buy a messaging Bolt On. They start from £3.99 and give you 50 texts or 16 picture messages or a combination. Sending 1 picture message uses 3 texts.

To sign up to any Pay & Go Bolt On, call 2202 (free) or go online

Business tariffs

17 June – iPhone handset pricing has now been announced and added to the tariff table

If you’re a business and want to join O2
You can get the new iPhone 4 on any of our 24 month tariffs. Or you can pay for one in full on Pay & Go and simply set your business up with either the 24 month or 30 day simplicity tariff.

There are a number of ways you can join O2 as a business.

• If you’re looking for less that 10 phones, just go to an O2 shop or visit the O2 Business shop online
• If you are looking for a more personalised quote including more than 10 handsets, call our Business Sales team on 0800 089 0202, find your nearest account manager or send us a brief.

You can bring your business to O2 and keep your mobile number.

You need to be over 18 to get an iPhone on any Business tariff, pass a credit check and have a bank account for the monthly Direct Debit. If you’re going into a shop, take two forms of ID that show your business address.

To activate your iPhone, you’ll need a computer with iTunes and an internet connection. Go here to find out more about iTunes.

If you’re an existing O2 Business customer
Already have a Business account with O2 and looking to upgrade to the new iPhone 4? You can visit any O2 shop, call our Business Customer Services Upgrade team or contact your account manager to find out more.

Already got an iPhone?

If you already have an iPhone and are looking to upgrade to the new iPhone 4, you could put your old iPhone to good use. You can get a sharer tariff on Business simplicity so that someone else in your business can share your bundle allowance, or you can get a 30 day simplicity package so that someone else can benefit from your old iPhone. If neither of those options work for you, then get some money back for it with O2 Recycle, our scheme to recycle old handsets.

If you’re already using an iPhone 3G or 3GS you can still upgrade to the iOS 4 software on those phones. Visit Apple’s website to find out more about iOS 4.

If you’re using an iPhone but don’t have the iPhone Bolt On or are not on a specific iPhone tariff, then you won’t be benefiting from the full iPhone experience including 1GB data, email and Visual Voicemail. To get all of this you may want to consider moving to one of our iPhone tariffs with the iPhone Bolt On (£8.51 a month).

To add the iPhone Bolt On please complete our online form and your Bolt On will be added within the next 24 hours.

To find out more about upgrading to the new iPhone 4 click here.