O2 will unlock iPhones once contracts expire

Posted on 6 Nov 2009 at 10:30

O2 will begin allowing iPhone users to unlock their handsets once its monopoly of the UK market ends on 11 November.

Matthew Key, chief executive of Telefónica Europe, which owns O2,told The Times that there is absolutely no truth in the rumour that the operator would continue to lock in users.

“Once the iPhone becomes available on other UK networks, we will allow O2 customers to unlock their iPhones, although of course they will still need to honour any outstanding contract period they have,” he said. “At the end of their contract period, they are entirely free to move to another operator—though naturally we hope they won’t want to.”

Key also revealed that O2 is spending heavily to address problems with 3G provision, particularly in London.

“I accept that our network has been under pressure in parts of London, where we see the highest concentration of smartphone users,” he said, adding that never before have network carriers had to cope with the volumes of data generated by iPhone usage. The O2 network has seen an 18-fold increase in data carried over the network in the last year and traffic continues to double every three months.

He said that O2 is spending more than £30 million in London alone to increase capacity.

Author: Simon Aughton

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