O2 introduces new mobile internet data plans with miserly 200MB limit

O2 has announced details and pricing for its new UK standard data plan, O2 Web Bolt On.While the £7.50 monthly fee is in-line with offerings from 3 and T-Mobile, its idea of ‘unlimited’ is not. Whereas both 3 and T-Mobile set their ‘unlimited’ plans’ ‘fair use’ limits at 1GB per month, O2 is launching its at just 20% of that, at 200MB. On an iPhone with 2.5G internet browsing (if you can actually get a signal from the 30% coverage at launch), that’s not such a big deal, but with 3G and HSDPA it’s a significant issue.

We’re pretty unimpressed by this — which is a reversal of our initial reaction when O2 announced it was going to offer new data plans to all its customers. O2′s approach to mobile data has previously been fairly unexciting, and this 200MB limit perpetuates the image of a company that’s out of step with the mobile internet revolution. If you’re into mobile web use, better options lie elsewhere.

For laptop users, there’s a new O2 Web Max package which, for £30 a month, offers up to 3GB of use via a phone adapter or 3G data card. And for BlackBerry owners, there’s a new £10 tariff that again offers 200MB of data per month. O2, sorry, but you’ve buggered this up…

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