O2 was previously known as BT Cellnet before it changed hands and can be traced back to almost the emergence of mobile phones in the UK. With over 18 million customers across Britain alone and a long time presence on the mobile market they are able to offer outstanding coverage across the nation which is one reason why they are currently considered to be the leader in mobile services.
Also aiding O2 in its current popularity is the fact that they own the exclusive contract to sell both the iPhone 3GS and the Palm Pre smartphones. Thus, for mobile users who want the very best mobile phones based on sheer popularity alone, an O2 contract is the only option. Of course, due to the exclusivity of the deals with Palm and Apple you can expect to pay more for a contract for either of these smartphones.
O2 offers three contracts mainly to their customers that provides both for long term and short term 1 month, 18 months, and 24 months. In order to receive a USB modem for free, customers do have to choose one of the later two contracts however or pay £29.95 for their modem.
As a perk that may help you overlook their high over usage charges, all of The Cloud wireless hotspots across the UK which total about 7,500 are free to O2 contract holders.
Of course, one thing that O2 has in its corner is the exclusive contract offerings to notorious data mobiles the iPhone and Palm Pre so it may pay to be watchful of your data usage if you choose O2 with a smartphone contract.
