iPhone Ireland
Imagine my delight last month when I heard rumours that the iPhone was coming to Ireland. Finally we were about to get hold of one of the most hotly anticipated technology items in recent memory. And it was coming quickly too. No waiting months after an announcement for it to actually arrive and be in our hands. Sadly, it was not to be so simple. Before Apple had even officially announced that Ireland was getting the iPhone, O2 let the cat out of the bag during their results announcement. The iPhone would be available on the 14th of March at a cost of €399 for the 8GB version and €499 for the 16GB version. Leaving aside the conversion price from dollars to euro and the astronomical difference in price between Ireland and the US, O2 had another surprise in store for prospective Irish iPhone owners; the tariffs. No sooner had O2 CEO Danuta Gray called her prospective new customers freaks, the tariffs were published.
This is where things get ugly.
The tariffs offered by O2 are utterly shite. 1GB data limit(!), paltry inclusive texts & minutes, no visual voicemail all with the convienience of an 18 month contract. When compared to the tariffs offered by O2 UK it’s quite clear that yet again, Irish customers are being ripped off.
My plans for buying one are now definitely on hold. I’m going to wait until a) the 3G version is available (rumoured to be later this year) b) the terrible tariffs are changed to better value and c) until my contract with 3 expires in late October.
Thank you again O2 for showing how much you enjoy shafting your customers!
Our only hope is that the uptake of the iPhone is terrible which might actually force O2 to get their act together and offer better value for money.
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