O2 says it’s £200.70 per GB for extra data above an O2 mobile broadband customers limit is designed to be a deterrent.
We reported how a study found that 78% of mobile broadband users were unaware that they could face hefty charges if they went over their broadband usage limit, with O2 coming out as the worst with a charge of £200 per extra GB.
In comparison T-Mobile didn’t charge customers if they went over their limit and instead warned them of the fact.
O2 said that very few of their customers went over the data transfer limit and that they text customers when they have used 50% of their allowance and again when they have used 90% and then if a customer goes over their limit they will receive another text.
When you consider that on a Pay & Go deal O2 charge £7.50 for 1Gb and 7 days mobile broadband access or for a full months access and 3Gb of data transfer a charge of £15 applies it goes to show how excessive the current fee is of £0.20 per Mb.
O2 came out worst by charging customers £200 per extra GB downloaded with no cap in place to warn customers. 3 mobile charged £102.40 per extra GB although they disconnect when a £50 cap is reached.
Although there has been a decline in the number of new broadband subscribers in the last 2 quarters (Q1 2009 – 130,000 new broadband customers and Q4 2008 – 163,000 new broadband customers) this is probably hardly surprising for 2 reasons, the first being that the recession will mean many are unable to afford the extra cost involved and the second is that most in the UK who actually want broadband already have it.
The biggest problem for residents of Hull is that they have no other choice of broadband provider to choose from unless they get 
Mobile broadband users will see that their data counters pause when they go onto the Facebook website and mobile phone users won’t incur charges when they go on it with their mobile phone handset.