Managing mobile costs

O2 aims to provide high-quality, reliable products, memorable services and value for money – simply explained.

Our research tells us that value and price are high among consumers’ criteria when they choose a mobile phone operator. Increasingly, today’s consumers are also willing to switch service provider because of cost.

During the year we began several new price-based loyalty schemes to help reduce this ‘churn’, including O2 Treats in the UK.

We provide pre-pay and post-pay packages and bundles that suit a range of budgets, enabling people to better manage their mobile phone spend.

So that customers can compare our tariffs with those of other operators, we publish prices and tariffs both online and in our shops.

O2 is a member of the Starmap Alliance of leading mobile operators, who have joined together to provide better tariffs and a seamless service when you travel in Europe.

O2 applies checks to bills. Our processes and accuracy are regularly audited by an independent third party and our billing accuracy meets industry standards under the British Approvals Board for Telecommunication’s (BABT) monitoring scheme. 

In January 2006, Manx Telecom, our business in the Isle of Man, became the first operator to achieve dual BABT approval for both its fixed and mobile services.

In January 2006, we were made aware of a case in which an O2 online customer could view the mobile phone bill of another O2 online customer. This was due to a fault with one of our internet pages. The problem was quickly rectified. We do not hold bank or credit card information on the customer’s account pages so there was no risk of goods and services being purchased fraudulently. 

Our commercial partnerships with Tesco in the UK and Tchibo in Germany allow pre-pay customers to call both landlines and all mobile networks for a flat rate.

In the UK and Germany we have services that lower the cost of mobile calls in chosen locations – usually close to a customer’s home or business – for example, the Genion HomeZone service in Germany.

In the UK we also offer free calls for O2 contract customers to community helplines, such as Childline, the Bullying Line and Crimestoppers.

Free customer calls (number) through O2 UK’s network to community helplines during 2005/06

Mobile users have the opportunity to buy third-party premium-rate services using their mobile phones. During the year, some of our customers in Germany signed up for third-party internet services without realising they were actually signing up to subscription services. We were alerted to the situation through customer complaints and immediately investigated the services in question. As a gesture of goodwill, O2 Germany reimbursed customers who had been affected, totalling nearly €1m in compensation.

Helping children understand the cost

We aim to find ways to ensure that no social group is excluded from the advantages of mobile phone telephony, particularly on the grounds of cost.

The fastest-growing new group of mobile phones users are children between the ages of 9 and 11 – and we particularly want to help them manage their phone use.

During the year, O2 agreed to work with the Personal Finance Education Group (pfeg) to help schoolchildren understand the cost and responsible use of mobile phones.

O2 appointed a steering group to work closely with pfeg, initially involving 10 primary schools near our headquarters in Slough. We will test relevant educational support for teachers and collate materials to develop a publication and worksheets for other teachers.

We are also working with young people in Germany. We are a member of a working group on the financial education of young people, founded by the Consumer Protection Agency of Northrine-Westfalia, and we are working with JFF – a media and teaching institute in Munich – to help schoolchildren learn how to use mobile phones in a responsible manner.

For direct customers, O2 can review usage and contact them if we notice call patterns that seem atypical or excessive.

In Ireland we offer dual services for parents to monitor and control their children’s mobile phone bills.

During the year we were alerted to misleading advertising for certain ringtone subscription services, which was particularly attractive to young people. We are now working closely with content providers to tighten up their advertising and make clear when their services are subscription based.

To put an immediate stop to unwanted premium-rate services in the UK and Ireland, send STOP by return.