Now you can get hands on iPhone 4G 16GB version for free if you upgrade to 24 months Flext 60 contract for £60 per month (£30 after discount). Sounds expensive, but this is top tariff which gives you unlimited calls, you can select flexible booster and 1GB internet usage. iPhone will cost you £720 over 2 years, but you will get mobile service as well, so deal is not bad. The only downside is you are tied with this operator for 2 years.

If you have been waiting for Apple’s latest toy and on T-Mobile, call them now and see what options you have.

Cheapest 18 months contract is £15 a month, you have to contribute £164 and you will also get 100 minutes and 100 texts.

All plans with this phone include unlimited internet.

Here is a list of specifications for this phone:

Network Type: GSM Quad-band phone capable of global roaming (850/900/1800/1900 MHz)
UMTS dual-band European/Asian 3G (2100/900 MHz)
Data: EDGE/UMTS/HSDPA 7.2 Mbit/s/HSUPA 2.0 Mbit/s

Dimensions: 4.69 x 2.36 x 0.47 inches (119 x 60 x 11.9 mm)
Weight: 4.76 oz (135 g)
Battery Type: Li – Ion, 1400 mAh
Talk Time: 6.66 hours (400 mins)
Standby: 340 hours (14 days)
Display Resolution: 480 x 800 pixels, 16 777 216 colors, AMOLED
Display Size: 3.70 inches
Touch Screen: Capacitive, Multi-touch
Camera: 5 megapixels Resolution
Camera Features: Flash LED; Auto focus, Face detection, Geo tagging
Multimedia Video Playback: MPEG4, WMV, 3GP, 3G2
Music Player: MP3, AAC, WMA, WAV, M4A (Apple lossless), AMR, OGG, MIDI
FM Radio
Memory Slot: microSD/microSDHC
Software: Android 2.1
Processor: Snapdragon, 1000 MHz
Memory: 576 MB RAM / 512 MB ROM
Input: Predictive Text Input
microUSB
WiFi: 802.11b/802.11g
Bluetooth: 2.1, Stereo Bluetooth
Headphones connector: 3.5mm
Other Features:
PhoneBook, Capacity depends on system memory; Ring ID, Picture ID, Search by both first and last name, Multiple numbers per contact, Caller groups
PIM, Alarm, Calendar, To-Do / Tasks, Calculator, World Clock
Voice Recording, Speaker Phone, Email
GPS: A-GPS, GPS

If you place an order now, you will probably wait for a week for it to arrive.

The joint venture between France Telecom’s Orange UK and Deutsche Telekom’s T-Mobile UK is planning to start trading in April, and will be Britain’s largest mobile operator.

British consumer groups reacted angrily to the European Commission’s decision to approve the merger on the fastest possible timetable, accusing Brussels of clearing the transaction with “indecent haste”.

The merger could also destabilise a UK government-sponsored effort to end a dispute between Britain’s mobile operators over their ownership of radio spectrum.

O2, Telefónica’s UK subsidiary, and Vodafone’s British business are not planning a challenge to the Commission’s decision.

O2 and Vodafone, the UK’s largest and second- largest operators, are instead expected to intensify efforts to poach customers from the new market leader.

Orange and T-Mobile, the third- and fourth-largest operators, are attempting an ambitious integration that is supposed to provide cost savings of £3.5bn.

The operators are planning to rationalise their networks and retail shops, and cut staff.

Tom Alexander, chief executive designate of the combined Orange/T-Mobile entity, expressed confidence that the integration would run smoothly and insisted the transaction was “great news” for consumers.

The merger will cut the number of British network operators from five to four, and consumer groups had called on UK competition authorities to investigate the transaction.

Which?, the consumer magazine and campaigns organisation, accused the Commission of failing to protect consumers’ interests.

Brussels’ decision to approve the merger is conditional on the combined Orange/T-Mobile entity having an infrastructure-sharing agreement with 3, the UK’s smallest network operator owned by Hong Kong’s Hutchison Whampoa.

The Commission said 3’s viability could be threatened if it did not have a network-sharing deal with the joint venture that would save costs.

Source: Financial Times

Here are highlights of new monthly plans:

• Customers can get fixed minutes and text deals on the following monthly costs – £10, £15, £20, £25, £30, £35 and £40 (24 month contracts)
• The deals will also be available on 18 month contracts for an additional £5 per month.

Tariffs range from 100 minutes and 100 texts for £15 per month to 1,200 minutes and 500 texts for £35 a month. Customers will pay £5 more for 18-month tariffs than 24-month deals allowing equivalent monthly airtime. Customers will now get a Flexible booster in addition to their text and minutes as part of their contract, which they can change each month. The flexible boosters include:

• Unlimited texts
• Unlimited internet
• Unlimited landline talk
• Unlimited T-Mobile talk
• Euro talk & text
• USA & Canada talk
• Europe &Amsterdam talk

Customers can ALSO buy another booster in addition to the one with their contract for only £5 extra a month.

T-Mobile is also dropping its ‘Solo’ SIM-only brand from March 1 for a range of ‘SIM-only’-branded propositions at new pricepoints. Rolling one-month deals start at £10 per month for 100 minutes and 100 texts,  and rise to £25 per month for 900 minutes and 500 texts.

Twelve-month SIM-only deals allow 600 minutes and 500 texts for £15 a month, and rise to 1,200 minutes and 500 texts for £25 per month. All unlimited text bundles have been removed.

SIM-only customers also get to select a free booster, and opt in for further bundles at £5 a go.

Existing Solo plans (affording 300 minutes and unlimited texts for £15 a month, 600 minutes and unlimited texts for £20 a month and 800 minutes and unlimited texts for £25 a month) are available until March 1.

The new joint venture will create the UK’s leading mobile operator. It will have a combined mobile customer base of around 28.4 million, representing approximately 37 percent of UK mobile subscribers*, based on figures at end December 2008. By integrating Orange’s broadband activities, the joint venture will also have the capabilities to offer convergent solutions to its customers in the future. The business will have pro forma 2008 revenues of approximately € 9.4 billion (£7.7 billion) and EBITDA of € 2.1 billion (£1.7 billion) **.

This combination will bring substantial benefits to UK consumers. It will result in expanded network coverage and enhanced indoor and outdoor network quality for 2G and 3G services, as well as better customer proximity through a larger network of own shops and improved customer services. The combination will place the joint venture in a better position to invest in innovative new services and to exploit new technologies. The new enlarged business will also be able to compete more effectively with the other two large mobile operators in the

market.

The key areas for the opex synergies of the joint venture are:

- Network & IT: Large-scale site rationalisation leading to significant savings

notably in site rental expenses, network operations and maintenance

expenses

- Distribution and Marketing: Higher proportion of sales through own shops,

resulting in lower distribution costs; a reduction in the combined number of

stores and savings in marketing costs primarily post roll-out of a new branding

strategy

- Other cost savings: Potential to reduce general and administration costs;

eliminate duplication in core support functions; optimise the workforce notably

in customer service, network and G&A operations

To achieve these opex synergies, the joint venture would expect to invest £600 to

£800 million in integration costs over the period from 2010 to 2014. Those costs

would primarily relate to the decommissioning of mobile sites, the rationalisation of the network of retail stores and the streamlining of operations.

· On the capex side, large scale savings are expected over the first five years following completion of the transaction, resulting from the integration and unification of the networks and from jointly expanding 3G coverage. The potential for capital expenditure savings, net of integration capex, is estimated at £620 million on a cumulative basis over 2010-2014, prior to stabilising at approximately £100 million a year from 2015 onwards.

These benefits will result in significantly improved operational performance, with long term EBITDA margin expected to be superior to those of the current market leaders thanks to size effects and with capex efficiency expected to be best in class.

To create the new joint venture, Deutsche Telekom would contribute T-Mobile UK on a cashfree, debt-free basis, including T-Mobile UK’s 50 percent holding in its 3G network joint venture with Hutchison and gross tax losses carried forward of at least £1.5 billion. France Telecom would contribute the whole of Orange UK including £1.25 billion of intra-group net debt in order to equalize the value of the contributions to the joint venture. Immediately after closing Deutsche Telekom would grant a £625 million shareholder loan to the joint venture, which would be used to simultaneously reimburse £625 million to France Telecom. As a result, the joint venture would have indebtedness of £1.25 billion, represented by two

shareholder loans of £625 million held by each of Deutsche Telekom and France Telecom.

The Board of the new joint venture company will have balanced representation from Deutsche Telekom and France Telecom. The management team would be led by Tom Alexander, currently CEO of Orange UK, as CEO and Richard Moat, currently CEO of TMobile UK, as COO. The governance of the joint venture would attribute extensive operational decision-making to the management team.

The T-Mobile UK and Orange UK brands will be maintained separately for 18 months after completion of the transaction. During that period management will review branding alternatives for the joint venture and will develop a new branding strategy recommendation for shareholder approval.

This transaction is expected to create substantial value for both shareholders and to be accretive from 2010 in terms of free cash-flow per share and from 2011 in terms of earnings per share. Both Deutsche Telekom and France Telecom would recognise their respective interest in the joint venture using the equity method after closing. It is planned that the joint venture will distribute 90 percent of its free cash flow to its two shareholders.

Prior to the signing, which is expected to be end of October, both Deutsche Telekom and France Telecom will undertake confirmatory due diligence and will complete the definitive documentation. The final agreement is subject to the approval of the Supervisory Board of Deutsche Telekom and the Board of Directors of France Telecom, and the completion of an agreed transaction would be conditional on approval by the relevant competition authorities.

Source: T-Mobile Press Release

Here is a quick spec list:

Processor: Qualcomm® MSM7200A^TM, 528 MHz
Operating System: Android^TM
Memory ROM: 512 MB
RAM: 288 MB
Dimensions (LxWxT) 112 x 56.2 x 14.35 mm ( 4.41 x 2.21 x 0.57 inches)
Weight 135 grams ( 4.76 ounces) with battery
Display 3.2-inch TFT-LCD touch-sensitive screen with 320×480 HVGA resolution
Network HSPA/WCDMA:

* 900/2100 MHz
* Up to 2 Mbps up-link and 7.2 Mbps down-link speeds

Quad-band GSM/GPRS/EDGE:

* 850/900/1800/1900 MHz

(Band frequency and data speed are operator dependent.)
Device Control Trackball with Enter button
GPS Internal GPS antenna
Connectivity Bluetooth® 2.0 with Enhanced Data Rate and A2DP for wireless stereo headsets
Wi-Fi®: IEEE 802.11 b/g
HTC ExtUSB^TM (11-pin mini-USB 2.0 and audio jack in one)
3.5 mm audio jack
Camera 5.0 megapixel color camera with auto focus
Audio supported formats MP3, AAC(AAC, AAC+, AAC-LC), AMR-NB, WAV, MIDI and Windows Media® Audio 9
Video supported formats MPEG-4, H.263, H.264 and Windows Media® Video 9
Battery Rechargeable Lithium-ion battery
Capacity: 1350 mAh
Talk time:

* Up to 420 minutes for WCDMA
* Up to 470 minutes for GSM

Standby time:

* Up to 750 hours for WCDMA
* Up to 440 hours for GSM

(The above are subject to network and phone usage.)
Expansion Slot microSD^TM memory card (SD 2.0 compatible)
AC Adapter Voltage range/frequency: 100 ~ 240V AC, 50/60 Hz
DC output: 5V and 1A
Special Features G-sensor
Digital Compass

T-Mobile confirmed that it will be issuing the Cupcake update over the air. As many owners eager to get the update will already know, among other things, Cupcake will bring a full touchscreen keyboard and video capture with the phone’s camera.

The update is “live” now, and will be a phased roll-out, so the May timescale quoted is when all G1 owners should get the refresh by, but presumably could be from now on.

Update is about 44MB in size. It includes important additions such as virtual keyboard, which would be absolutely necessary for new Android driven handsets which do not have hardware keyboard. Vodafone has started selling second Android phone Magic, which is full touch screen phone.

René Obermann, DT’s chief executive, said the UK business had to do better, and he is to appoint new management. “We feel the UK market is competitive, and consolidation would do good for that market,” he said.

Mr Obermann emphasised he was not commenting about possible deal-making, but his statement was seized upon by analysts as evidence DT might sell its UK business.

DT’s leading shareholders – the German government and Blackstone, the private equity group – are beginning to lose patience with the underperforming UK business. DT is expected to take a €1.8bn writedown on the UK asset next week.

The most logical buyer would be one of its British rivals, because consolidation ought to enhance the profitability of the remaining companies.

The UK is the only important European market to have five network operators – Telefónica’s O2, Vodafone, France Telecom’s Orange, T-Mobile and 3 – and they periodically engage in price wars.

Possible buyer for T-Mobile UK business could be France Telekom, which already owns Orange UK mobile operator. An Orange-T-Mobile tie-up would command a 40 per cent share of revenue paid by British mobile users. That figure includes Virgin Mobile’s customers, because the company uses T-Mobile UK’s network to offer phone services.

T-Mobile has operated Starbucks hotspots for the last 6 years on a subscription or pay as you go basis.

T-Mobile Wi-Fi will remain as a “complementary” service in high demand areas such as airports.

BT’s Starbucks hotspots will form part of its Openzone network. BT’s home broadband packages include bundled Openzone minutes.

An existing public Wi-Fi deal with O2 means iPhone users will also get access at Starbucks, at faster speeds than offered by 3G. From summer this year, O2 dongle subscribers will also get bundled Openzone access.

While mobile operator rivals have seen rapid growth in mobile data use from by smartphone and dongle owners, BT has sought to expand its Wi-Fi coverage.

Source: The Register

From April 2009, T-Mobile’s popular Flext tariff will be refreshed to give more value to customers. New benefits will include: International calling and texting, 08 numbers and unlimited web’n'walk access.

Flext customers can now take advantage of the following features as part of their monthly allowance, without incurring extra charges:

* The inclusion of over 50 of the most popular international calling destinations, so customers can use their allowance to call or text friends and family abroad
* Calls to our most popular 08 numbers, including telephone banking, key utility and customer service lines and premium rate numbers
* Special offer of unlimited web’n'walk access to enable customers to enjoy the whole internet on their phone
* The inclusion of access to voice mail messages as part of the new Flext package
* A free weekly text alert to be able to keep track of spending and detailing their remaining credit during the month

You should be signing up for 18 months contract with T-Mobile, credit includes 92% of the most popular international calling destinations, to over 50 countries:
Australia, Austria, Bangladesh, Belgium, Bulgaria, Canada, Channel Islands, China, Croatia, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Ghana, Greece, Hong Kong, Hungary, India, Indonesia, Ireland, Isle of Man, Israel, Italy, Jamaica, Japan, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxemburg, Malaysia, Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Pakistan, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Russia, Singapore, Slovakia, Slovenia, South Africa, South Korea, Spain, Sri Lanka, Sweden, Switzerland, Taiwan, Thailand, Trinidad & Tobago, Turkey, USA

Also 89% of most popular 08 numbers are included (Flext inclusive 08 number calls are to numbers starting with 0800, 0808, 0845, 0844, 0843, 0842 and 0870. Calls to numbers starting with 0500 are included too.)

This is a good news if you have relatives or friends abroad, you can call or text them and it will be included in your monthly allowance. T-Mobile website doesn’t mention at what rate international calls will be charged (deducted from allowance). Probably details will be announced later, closer to launch.

Source: T-Mobile