O2 to slash monthly prices

Step away from the new contract...'til next week

O2 will overhaul its monthly tariffs next week for the first time since 2002.

The new plans will be launched on 13 July and offer better value than the current range, The Register has learned.

The operator seems to be responding to pressure from rivals. T-Mobile's Flext campaign is known to have scored big with consumers and attracted many new punters to the German-owned network.

Under O2's new scheme a middle of the road £30 plan will get you 250 network anytime minutes and 100 texts on a 12 month contract, and 400 minutes with 100 texts if you sign up for 18 months. All the new plans include the current 100kb browsing allowance.

By comparison, O2's current £30 package punts just 200 minutes, with a special offer to double the minutes and texts for three or six months depending on length of contract.

Orange's daft animals provide 200 minutes and 75 texts for £30 on a 12 month sign up to the "Canary" plan. The Vodafone website pitches 275 anytime minutes with 500 texts inclusive at £35 per month.

Handing over £30 per month to T-Mobile buys the same amount of texts and minutes as the new £30 O2 package, but it's flexible, so users can mix and match as their needs change. O2's text bundle is inclusive of media messages, whereas they are charged at a higher rate under Flext.

Now the deals last the whole term, O2's value-boosted 18 month packages particularly put pressure on Flext contracts, which all last for 18 months.

Whispers that O2 was about to announce changes have been doing the rounds. See MobileScraper on Monday here.®