Mobile Phone Deals, Latest Mobile Phone News and Reviews

Mobile phone operator O2 has added more customers to its network during Q3 of 2008 (July to September), than Vodafone and Orange put together as O2’s iPhone exclusivity and sim-only deals extend its market share over its rivals.

Recent figures released by O2 show that the network operator has had its best Q3 of all time and has added 31,000 more customers than its closest two rivals put together.

Over Q3 of 2008, O2 has seen a total of 402,000 new customers with 278,000 contract customers and 124,000 pay as you go customers. The recent jump in customers is thought to be due to the company being the exclusive seller of the widely popular iPhone 3G, combined with its simplicity sim-only deals.

O2 also added over 72,000 customers to its fixed-line broadband division, beating the market leader BT who added 69,000 customers and coming second to Sky broadband, who added a staggering 164,000 new customers.

O2 have announced that it’s new PDA, the XDA Zest will be available on both pay and go and contract tariffs. It will be the first O2 XDA device to be offer on their pay and go tariff, and is hoped that first time PDA users will opt for the new device instead of a standard mobile phone.

The O2 XDA Zest is manufactured by computer hardware firm Asus, and is basically a re-branded version of the Asus P552w. The device features the Windows Mobile 6.1 Professional operating system, 2.8 inch touchscreen display, a 3.2 megapixel camera and secondary front camera for voice calls.

Wi-Fi and HSDPA are also supported as well as Bluetooth 2.0, USB synchronisation, built-in GPS and A-GPS, Pocket Office for viewing Word, Excel and PDF files and a media player supporting various audio and video formats. A microSD card slot is also available and can take up to 16GB of memory.

The O2 XDA Zest is due out sometime this month and will cost £249.99 on O2’s pay and go tariff, and will be free with some contracts.

Mobile phone operators have started to offer their customers the choice of a reduced tariff plan or an upgrade mobile phone as part of their contract renewals.

It is hoped that customers who are happy with their current handsets will choose the reduced tariffs instead of a new device, meaning that the mobile operators will save money on new handsets (which they heavily subsidise) and also help their customers save during the credit crunch.

Currently both O2 and T-mobile are offering the new deal, which could mean a saving of up to £15 a month for customers who choose to keep their current mobile phone and renew their contract. Both firms are keen to point out that there is still the option to upgrade handsets if the customer wishes.

This new plan may be picked up by the other mobile phone operators, with the whole industry making a major switch towards longer 18 month contracts to retain customers.

Mobile phone network operator O2 has announced that it has signed a new deal with the England Rugby Club to sponsor them until 2012.

O2 have sponsored the England Rugby team since 1995 and the new deal, worth around £4 million will see O2 keep their logo on England Rugby shirts for all their internationals and the next Rugby World Cup (2011) in New Zealand.

O2 will continue to have substantial advertising rights for the England Rugby Ground at Twickenham, and will have exclusive hospitality privileges for its clients and various competition winners. As well as offering O2 customers exclusive coverage of the Rugby Football Union (RFU) and Premier Rugby (PRL) games, they will also remain the sole provider of telecommunications to the RFU and its players.

An O2 statement added that they were happy to sign the extension and that they would continue to support and promote the sport.

LG have announced the UK launch of the KS360 is to be in August on the O2 and Orange networks. The LG KS360 will be available in three colours, titanium and light blue, white and soft pink and black and red.

The Ks360 is predominantly designed for a younger audience with its biggest selling point being ‘messaging on the move’. The KS360 has a sliding QWERTY keyboard and users can either send SMS, IM or emails together with the ability to access social networking websites.

The 2.4 inch QVGA screen is touch sensitive and can be used to dial numbers instead of using the keyboard. The KS360 also sports a 2 megapixel camera and plays audio and video files; a MicroSD card slot is also included which can take up to 4GB. Bluetooth and USB connections are also included. The device is just 16.8mm thick, so it will easily fit into a pocket or handbag.

The KS360 will be available in August on pay monthly contracts from O2 and Orange.