View this article at: http://dev.macnn.com/articles/08/07/07/o2.iphone.pay.as.you.go
Monday, Jul 07, 2008 10:05am

O2 pay-as-you-go iPhones du...

O2 UK customers wanting a pre-paid iPhone 3G will have to wait longer than contract subscribers, the carrier has announced. The wording on its pay-as-you-go subsite has been changed to list availability for "later this year," in contrast with the July 11th launch for contract plans. One of the few third-party distributors of the iPhone, Carphone Warehouse, has meanwhile issued a statement saying that pre-paid 3Gs will ship "in time for the Christmas period."

The move is believed by some to be a means of forcing more customers into the 18-month contracts otherwise required for the device in the UK. Pre-orders are already being taken under this scheme. No pre-paid options were available for the original 2.5G iPhone, but this is likely because Apple income depended on revenue sharing from monthly fees.