Wednesday, April 9,2008 @ 1:45pm
O2 limiting most 3G users to 128Kbps
The British division of O2 is deliberately limiting the speeds its 3G customers can operate at, representatives have admitted. Most customers, it says, are being artificially restricted to 128Kbps, equivalent to an ISDN landline connection. By default only customers paying £35 or more per month are being given access to O2's top speeds, rated at 384Kbps; business customers are also being upgraded automatically, as deemed necessary.
The average O2 customer can, though, obtain 384Kbps at any time, by contacting the carrier directly and requesting the speed upgrade. The issue may nevertheless have a significant impact on British iPhone customers, who have been anticipating the 3G iPhone as a panacea to the slow speeds of O2's EDGE network. Initially, some owners may find that 3G is no faster than their current 2.5G technology.