O2 mobile broadband

O2 was a late arrival to the mobile broadband ball, perhaps because it was concentrating on its great value home broadband.

O2 wins lots of awards for customer service and with the most generous returns policy as well as free WiFi access, O2 really offers customer-friendly mobile broadband as well.  It's a bit behind the competition when it comes to high speed coverage, so it's important to check the coverage available in your area. Nevertheless, it's catching up with the competition very fast.

Best for

• Customer Service- O2 has won more customer satisfaction awards than any other operator
• Free Wi-Fi – Customers get free access to both The Cloud and BT Open Zone with all contracts
• Returns Policy – 30 day ‘Happiness Guarantee’ gives you plenty of time to decide if the service is right for you
• Laptop Support- free 30 days technical assistance for laptop customers plus free McAfee Internet Security for the life of your contract

Returns / cancellation policy

O2 has by far the most generous returns policy of the major mobile broadband networks, offering dongle-only customers a "30 day Happiness Guarantee" and laptop-included customers a "50 day Happiness Guarantee". These give customers the chance to use and evaluate the service for a period of up to 30 or 50 days respectively during which they can return the equipment and cancel their contracts without penalties if they are not entirely satisfied.

Once the evaluation period is up, if you decide to cancel your contract before the end of your minimum term you will have to pay a cancellation charge. If you cancel your agreement during the minimum term you will be required to pay the outstanding monthly charges for the remainder of your minimum term. So if you decided to cancel 8 months through an 18 month contract for example, you will have to pay charges equal to the sum of the line rental for the remaining 10 months.  

Also bear in mind that if you move to a new area outside of your network's coverage zone, the network has no responsibility to release you from your contract unless it falls within the stated returns period, and normal cancellation fees apply.

Use abroad

Use of mobile broadband abroad is currently expensive for all mobile broadband suppliers, and O2 is no exception.  It's still good value though, if you're travelling for business.

The cost in the EU is £3.00 per MB and £6.00 in the rest of the world.  This is good value for email use (and Outlook 2007 users can use "download headers" to keep costs more firmly under control).

It's possible to reduce the cost significantly if you commit to a Data Abroad bundle.  These are good for those who travel abroad frequently or the organised!

Excess charges

Excess charges apply if you exceed your monthly download allowance.  O2 sends notifications when you are close to your download limit, thus allowing you to make a conscious choice about whether to pay excess charges.

We provide advice on how to avoid them, because they can quickly add up to many times your normal monthly payment, and unfortunately O2's are among the most expensive.

The rate is 19.6p per MB, but put another way this is £200 per GB.

About O2

Since the company formed back in 2002, O2 UK has become the nation's biggest network with over 20.8 million mobile customers and over 404,000 fixed broadband customers. It is also one of the most visible telecommunications brands through its sponsorship of music venues such as the O2 Academies and the World's top music venue, the O2 Arena.

O2 UK is part of Telefónica O2 Europe which has over 46 million customers and comprises mobile network operators in the UK, Ireland and Slovakia along with integrated fixed/mobile businesses in Germany and the Czech Republic. Telefónica O2 Europe also owns 50% of the Tesco Mobile and Tchibo Mobilfunk joint venture businesses in the UK and Germany respectively.  In 2006 it acquired 100% ownership of Be, a leading UK fixed broadband provider, using the network to launch its own broadband service under the O2 name in October 2007.

O2 was one of the latecomers to mobile broadband. It launched its service well after the rest of the big five mobile companies in April 2008, and at the time it was only offered to existing customers at a modest top speed of 1.8Mbps.

The network has since caught up with the rest, opening up offers to new users and increasing top publicised speeds to a more impressive 3.6 Mbps. Packages offer data allowances ranging from 500MB to 10GB a month with contract lengths of 18 or 24 months. O2 mobile broadband do also offer a one month rolling contract in addition to contract-free daily, weekly or monthly Pay & Go services.

As well as value for money pricing, fast speeds, and UK-based after sales service, O2 Mobile Broadband also includes the enticing extra of providing free unlimited access to thousands of Wi-Fi hotspots via The Cloud and BT Openzone (including most branches of Starbucks) across the UK.