Exclusive: O2 loophole – Get the iPhone on a cheaper, 12-month contract
February 26th, 2010
O2 updated their range of iPhone tariffs today as reported before here and here. In doing so, they’ve introduced a new loophole which means that you can potentially save money by making individual orders for an iPhone and another for an airtime tariff. You can save up to £70 using this method, get an extra SIM card with 12 months of free internet (worth £120) and you’ll benefit from having a shorter 12 month contract too.
How does it work?
This new loophole has been introduced by O2′s new “Simplicity for iPhone” tariffs.
The “Simplicity for iPhone” tariffs provide customers with the exact same airtime allowance as the standard iPhone tariffs (i.e. the same number of minutes, unlimited texts, unlimited internet and visual voicemail) but it doesn’t provide an iPhone. For this reason, the “Simplicity for iPhone” tariffs are aimed at existing iPhone customers and are cheaper by roughly £15/month to £20/month.
However, this does not stop new iPhone customers from signing up to “Simplicity for iPhone”. The only thing is, you’ll have to source your own iPhone. And you can do that from O2 itself! By purchasing an iPhone on PAYG and then a “Simplicity for iPhone” contract, it is often sometimes be cheaper than buying the official contract.
Will it work for me and how much will I save?
As a general rule, you will save money using this loophole if you are ordering an iPhone 3G or you are choosing a tariff with 300 minutes or less. From my experience, most people fit into either of these two categories. To find out exactly how much you’d save using this loophole, enter the number of airtime minutes you require per month:
For more information on how this calculator and loophole works, see the information at the bottom of the article.
What are the other benefits and disadvantages?
photo: Flowery *L*u*z*a*
Advantages:
- You save money! (sometimes, use the calculator to find out)
- You’ll have a spare PAYG SIM card which comes with your PAYG iPhone. This SIM card includes 12 months of free web & wi-fi (worth £120). You could pass this onto a friend/family or use it in an old phone.
- You are only tied into a 12 month contract. This means you would be free to upgrade your iPhone or switch to a different network in 12 months as opposed to 18 months or 24 months.
Disadvantages:
- You will need to make a large payment upfront for the iPhone.
- It will cost £15 to unlock your iPhone if you choose to switch network later. This is because you have purchased it on Pay As You Go.
Do I need to unlock my iPhone to use this loophole?
No. As you have purchased your iPhone from O2, your iPhone will be locked to the O2 network. There won’t be a problem putting a O2 Simplicity SIM into an O2 Pay As You Go iPhone.
Is this the cheapest way to get an iPhone? How does this compare to the other networks?
We have updated our iPhone price comparison website which will now report the price of the iPhone on O2 Simplicity. You can use it to compare the cost of an iPhone on O2, O2 Simplicity, Orange, Tesco Mobile and Vodafone.
How do I get it?
If you would like to use this loophole:
- Buy an iPhone on Pay As You Go
- Order Simplicity for iPhone
Did it work for you?
We’d love to hear your experiences – drop us a comment below if this loophole worked for you.
How exactly does the loophole work? (the maths)
As an example, consider the 18 month tariffs. The following table shows the number of minutes you get on different standard O2 iPhone tariffs. We also show the monthly cost of the equivalent Simplicity tariff. In each case, the Simplicity tariff is £20/month cheaper and provides the same amount of airtime. Over the course of your 18 month contract, this leads to a total saving of £360.
| Monthly Cost (18 month Standard Tariff) | Monthly Cost (12 month Simplicity Tariff) | Minutes |
|---|---|---|
| £30 | - | 100 |
| £35 | £15 | 300 |
| £40 | £20 | 600 |
| £45 | £25 | 900 |
| £50 | £30 | 1200 |
| £65 | £45 | Unlimited |
However, we must also consider the cost of the iPhone itself. You will pay more for the iPhone upfront using this loophole (you need to buy it on PAYG) so that will erode away at the cost saving. In order to make a cost saving overall, the price difference for the iPhone must be less than £360.
| About Ken | |
 | My mission is to demystify the world of mobile technology for general audiences and to communicate how mobile technology can enhance every aspect of our daily lives. I've been maintaining the Ken's Tech Tips website since 2004. I have experience communicating mobile technology and presenting new mobile products both online and offline, including at various trade shows and events. You can check out my profile or drop me an e-mail. |
Hey,
Do you know if this works for sure? Above you say a disatvantage of going this route is you must pay 15 to unlock the phone yet moment later you say it’s already unlocked for the 02 network.
Any ideas which it is?
Hi Brian,
Yes, I see no reason why this will not work. Plenty of my readers have purchased a phone and changed the SIM cards in them – some of my readers have successfully switched from iPhone PAYG to Simplicity for iPhone before (see some of the comments at http://cow.neondragon.net/index.php/o2s-secret-20-iphone-simplicity-tariff ).
I have updated the bullet point you allude to as it was confusing. If you decide to switch to a different network at a later date, you’ll have to pay £15. To use this loophole, you don’t as you’re staying on O2.
Hope this helps
Ken
Thanks for the quick reply.
Might take advantage of this deal as it’s ideal for me although I think I’ll wait until I see what 02 are offering the new HTC handsets for?
Cheers!
[...] is often cheaper to purchase an iPhone on PAYG and then use a Simplicity SIM card with it. See our guide to this loophole and find out whether it’ll work for [...]
I am on a simplicity contract and have just purchased an Nokia E55. I phoned to try and add data usage to my simplicity contract but they said it was not possible. I can swap tariffs (i.e. I am currently on a £10 a month 300 min tariff and could pay £5 extra to go on the 600 minute tariff if i wanted to).
Slightly odd question i know, but if O2 would let me swap to the simplicity for Iphone would the web work on my E55 (this might get me the data that the guy on the phone at O2 said was not possible)
Thanks
Rob
Hi Rob,
There is a Simplicity for Smartphones tariff – I think this would be a better bet than trying to use “Simplicity for iPhone” which is designed specifically for the iPhone. Both have the same price.
HTH
Ken