The Captain's Blog ™

O2 launches iPhone SIM-only deals

Once the UK’s monopoly provider of iPhones, O2 has just upped its game to reflect the increasingly competitive marketplace for iPhone deals.

Rightly deserving of a few headlines, O2′s newly launched and cheapest SIM-only iPhone price plan costs just £15 per month and provides 300 inclusive minutes along with unlimited* texts, data and Wi-Fi (see below for more info on other SIM-only iPhone options).

» View O2′s Simplicity SIM-only iPhone plans

iPhone & the UK mobile networks

O2 previously enjoyed a lengthy honeymoon period as Apple’s exclusive UK iPhone network partner. To say that the other network operators turned green with envy during that time would be a massive understatement (I was tempted to rustle up green versions of their logos here, but didn’t fancy hearing from their brand police). However, with the exclusive deal now sitting firmly in O2′s rear view mirror, the UK’s other networks are currently doing their very best to make up for lost time.

Thankfully, this means that the iPhone market in the UK has become a lot more competitive and that iPhone deals have got – and are still getting – cheaper. Today, UK consumers can enjoy a healthy choice of mobile networks for buying an iPhone. For pay monthly iPhone deals, you can choose between offerings from O2, Orange (which is due to merge with T-Mobile), Vodafone and Tesco. All except Vodafone also currently offer pay as you go iPhone deals.

iPhone SIM-only price plans

Most recently, first Vodafone and now O2 have launched SIM-only iPhone price plans. These are designed to appeal to folks who may already have reached the end of contract periods, those who fancy an upgrade from pay as you go and others who may have bought unlocked iPhones through, shall we say, less official channels. (What’s that? eBay? Quite possibly, but buyer beware!)

O2′s Simplicity SIM-only iPhone price plans are available in 30 day and 12 month contract versions. They basically offer the same inclusive benefits, the key difference being the minimum commitment period and that the 12 month contract versions are each £5 cheaper than their 30 day equivalents:

O2 iPhone SIM-only deals:

£15pm  (12mths) / £20 (30 day): 300 minutes, unlimited texts, data & Wi-Fi
£20pm (12 mths) / £25 (30 day): 600 minutes, unlimited texts, data & Wi-Fi
£25pm (12 mths) / £30 (30 day): 900 minutes, unlimited texts, data & Wi-Fi
£30pm (12 mths) / £35 (30 day): 1,200 minutes, unlimited texts, data & Wi-Fi
£45pm (12 mths)  / £50 (30 day): unlimited minutes, texts, data & Wi-Fi

» View O2′s Simplicity SIM-only iPhone plans

Vodafone iPhone SIM-only deals:

Vodafone also offers a choice of 30 day or 12 month SIM-only plans for iPhone owners:

» £25pm (12 mths): 900 minutes, unlimited texts, 1GB of web, 1GB of Wi-Fi
» £25pm (30 day): 600 minutes, unlimited texts, 1GB of web, 1GB of Wi-Fi

Vodafone also offers various other SIM-only plans on both 12 month and 30 day contracts. Some are are cheaper and some include 500MB mobile data allowances. However, none of these alternatives offers Wi-Fi and only some include mobile data allowances (and these only at half the level of the SIM-only plans that are designed specifically for iPhone users).

*Note: all “unlimited” allowances are subject to fair use policies, but these are typically fairly generous.