Mobile phone network O2 has announced that it is to scrap unlimited data downloads for smartphone customers. New customers to O2 and existing customers looking to upgrade will have their usage capped at between 500 Megabytes (MB) and one gigabyte (GB) depending on their monthly tariff.
Analysts branded this as “inevitable” as more and more consumers switch to data-intensive smartphones that can surf the web and show video.
As a result of O2’s announcement it is expected that other networks are likely to follow. Many customers have complained about poor service, download speeds and network coverage as huge amounts of data are consumed by the minority of people. The network’s cheapest tariff will cost £25 per month for two years and will allow a user to download 500MB per month.
O2 has said that the changes will affect just 3% of its 21m customers, who will have to pay additional charges for their data use. Recent reports from O2 claim that 3% of its customers – who this will affect – are using approximately 36% of the data capacity of O2’s network.
It is estimated that O2 was spending around £1m a day to upgrade its network to cope with the “exponential demand” for data on smartphones. The new charges will be brought in on 24 June, to coincide with the launch of the iPhone 4. The new handset possesses a higher resolution camera and is able to record high definition video, both of which will add pressure to O2’s network.
