How O2 can cure iPhone 3G S upgrade rage
And why customers shouldn't be slammed for being greedy
It's fair to say that O2 has run into a spot of bother over its iPhone 3G S upgrade policy, which makes existing iPhone owners pay to cancel their current contracts before they're allowed to upgrade to the new model.
As the dozens of comments on our story from the other night shows, people who bought the iPhone 3G the day it came out last year are angry that they're now facing a surprise extra cost to do the same thing for the 3G S.
Yet in fairness to O2 – and US operator AT&T, which is facing similar customer outrage – it's not being particularly mean.
Unlike the original iPhone, the iPhone 3G was subsidised by the operators to keep the price low. For that reason, they're not letting customers cancel their contracts before they expire just because a sexy new model has turned up – which will also be subsidised.
However, as PocketGamer.biz argues, the problem is less about greed on the part of iPhone owners, and more about the mismatch between iPhone's 12-month product refresh cycle, and O2's 18 and 24-month contracts.
The answer? Some kind of flexible rolling 12-month contract for iPhone owners who know they'll want to upgrade once a year, without having to buy a pay-as-you-go handset each time to do it.
It will cost more: these people can't expect to keep getting iPhones for the same price as new customers. But it would go a long way to avoiding the kind of upset that's taken place this week.
