Tuesday, March 04, 2008

O2's Paddy Tax

I have to admit that I am seriously tempted to buy an iPhone, I love the interface and I have found myself using the internet on my current phone a little more than I should. Unfortunately when the phone was announced last week my excitement was seriously dampened by the comparisons I've seen of the O2 Ireland tariff compared to the O2 UK version on Damien Mulleys blog.

Ireland:
€45 - 175 mins, 100 texts, 1GB data
€65 - 350 mins, 150 texts. 1GB data
€100 - 700 mins, 250 texts, 1GB data
NO visual voicemail, NO wifi hotspot access

UK:
£35 (~€47) - 600 mins, 500 texts, unlimited data
£45 (~€60) - 1200 mins, 500 text, unlimited data
£75 (~€100) - 3000 mins, 500 texts, unlimited data
Visual voicemail, access to UK-wide wifi hotspots.

This morning the issue was raised on RTE's Morning Ireland by Pat Phelan who called it a Paddy Tax on his blog and wants to organise a boycott of the iPhone in Ireland until O2 introduce fair prices. I'd like to think it will achieve something but unfortunately I don't see the boycott stopping people buying the phone. Of more interest is Phelans announcement that his company will make available information on buying iPhones from abroad and unlocking them here. Still it's not likely to make a difference to O2 but may save some people some money.

What is more likely is that O2 could react to bad publicity and change the tarrifs to include more data or minutes in the package but again the chances of enough publicity building up are remote. O2 and the other telcos know they have a cash cow here and you cant blame them for exploiting the Irish consumers like myself who in the end will just give in and pay. It is a better tarrif than the one I'm on at the moment so unfortunately, if I'm being realistic, I see myself buying one and just hating O2 Ireland a little more.

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