Buying O2 business phones direct from O2 UK – that seems the obvious way to go, doesn’t it? They’ll offer the best price, won’t they?

You’d think the answer to both of these questions would be, ‘yes’, but you could well be wrong.

As your business nears the end of a mobile phone contract, you might feel inclined to visit the O2 business shop to explore their phone deals, or to contact O2 business customer services. It’s natural to assume that the most competitive offers come directly from the network rather than through a dealer. However, this assumption is incorrect. You might think bypassing the middleman guarantees the best O2 business mobile contract, but that’s not the case! Take a moment to read this brief guide to learn why.

O2 UK business phones – what is the right tariff for you?

Business mobile phone dealers can offer you all the tariffs available on the O2 business website or by speaking to O2 business customer services, without any additional cost to your business. Simpatico can even put together bespoke tariffs for a specific amount of data, or with a specific bolt-on (eg international calling). While O2 might encourage you to choose a higher monthly tariff – their costs are fixed, so it’s in their interest to get you to buy more data than you need – an honest dealer will prioritize keeping your expenses low, which could result in a lower monthly bill than if you were to go directly through the O2 business shop.

In fact, a business mobiles dealer should have a vested interest in finding a tariff that provides the best value for you, rather than just chasing the highest commission. This approach fosters a long-term relationship where both the dealer and the client benefit. Unfortunately, the telecom industry has its share of dealers who may not always act in your best interest, with some salespeople tempted to push higher tariffs to earn bigger bonuses! (Hint- Simpatico doesn’t do that!)

Therefore, it’s crucial to have a clear understanding of your recent usage and whether it’s likely to change during your next mobile phone contract. This knowledge will help you avoid being swayed by offers of extra data on a higher tariff, ensuring you don’t end up paying for something you don’t actually need.

Changing O2 tariffs mid-contract

Beware when you’re told you can change your O2 business tariff mid-contract without checking the small print. It may be you can ask for more data but not for less. Or you may find yourself inadvertently signing up for a longer contract period. But it’s a fact of life that things change, so whether or not you are on an O2 business contract or any other network, you may want to change your allowance. At Simpatico, because we build and invoice all the tariffs ourselves rather than just reselling O2 business contracts and receiving commission, then changing tariffs mid-contract is much easier.

What is the right O2 business handset for you?

Acquiring handsets as part of an O2 business deal can be appealing due to its simplicity, but there are several drawbacks to consider. For example:

• Are you securing the best price for that specific handset? A reputable dealer should be able to find handsets at more competitive prices than those offered by O2 business.
• Is there another handset or manufacturer which actually has a handset which would work better for you? It’s unlikely you’re going to get that sort of advice from O2 business, but a business mobile dealer will know more about specific handset pros and cons – eg the battery life or the camera quality.

Is an O2 business mobile even right for you?

You might be loyal to a particular network, but it may not be the best fit for your business needs. Even if you’ve had a poor experience with another network in the past, network coverage can change over time, so it’s worth reassessing the situation. For example, around our head office in Beverley, the quality of signal offered by the 4 networks has changed over the past few years, so what was good two years ago isn’t necessarily the best choice now.

The other thing to consider if you have more than one business mobile is do they need to be on the same network? At Simpatico we combine all four networks onto the same invoice, so you can be on a different network to your colleagues – this can be a game changer if you have wildly different signals where you are based.

You can use any of these pages below to check signal coverage in your area (though nothing compares to a real-world test—we have several test phones with different network SIMs to ensure the coverage maps are accurate!). Just copy and paste the address into a new tab on your browser:

EE: https://ee.co.uk/why-ee/mobile-coverage

O2: https://www.o2.co.uk/coveragechecker

Vodafone: https://www.vodafone.co.uk/network/status-checker

3: http://www.three.co.uk/Discover/Network/Coverage

And what about service from the O2 business website?

Unless you’re someone extremely important (like a member of the royal family or the latest winner of ‘Strictly’), the person on the other end of the O2 business customers services likely won’t know who you are – and, let’s be honest, probably isn’t even based in the UK. They won’t be familiar with your business or understand your specific needs when it comes to an O2 business phone.

This is where a (good) mobile dealer really shines. When our clients reach out to us at Simpatico, we take pride in offering a level of customer service rooted in long-term relationships. It might sound clichéd to say we believe in good, old-fashioned customer service, but we do. Knowing that a customer travels abroad a lot, or has staff in remote locations, or is always losing/breaking their phone is valuable information!

I want an O2 business mobile. Where should I get one?

As you’d expect, we’re going to advise you to view our range of business mobiles, where you can browse our latest handsets with some excellent tariffs (better than the O2 business shop, in fact). We can provide top-of-the-range models like the Apple iPhone 15 Pro, Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra, or Z Fold5 for power users. If you need devices will less fancy features, for calling, messaging and browsing the web then we have budget-friendly handsets such Samsung A04s and older iPhone models that still pack a punch.

Don’t need a new handset? We can cater for you, with our O2 business mobile SIM only plans, available for 12 or 24 months with a range of data allowances from 5GB up to unlimited usage.

We have some great tariffs available for O2, as well as the other major networks. We’re confident of securing you the very best deal for your next business mobile.

Are you going on holiday this summer to a place which borders another country? Did you know it’s possible for your phone to connect automatically to the network of a neighbouring country and – potentially – result in unforeseen charges? Even more seriously, we have seen examples of phones connecting automatically to a maritime network, where charges can be horrendous.

The problem is that most of us have our phones set to select a network automatically.

On my Samsung that can be found in Settings > Connections > Mobile networks > Network operators:

 On an iPhone it’s Settings > Mobile Service > Network Selection:

In most situations that is absolutely fine. But imagine you are travelling to (Southern) Cyprus on holiday. Cyprus is part of the EU, so on our Simpatico O2 tariffs you would be able to access your UK allowance and make calls within Cyprus and back to the UK at no extra charge (on EE, Vodafone or Three it would cost £2/day). But if you were to travel near the border with the Turkish occupied territory of the Republic of Cyprus, it’s possible your phone might automatically connect to a Turkish network because the signal was stronger, even though you had not crossed the border – at which point charges could be much higher, depending on the network.

Or what if you were to visit French Guiana on holiday? Although it is in South America, it is legally part of France – and so on O2 you would continue to benefit from roaming at no additional charge. But if you were travelling very near the border, your phone might automatically connect to a network in Suriname or Brazil, and charges would start being applied.

Is there a solution? Yes, there is. If you think this could happen to you, then you can temporarily set your phone to connect to a network manually. This means that if the signal drops on that network your phone will stop receiving data, calls, etc, but it will also prevent it from automatically jumping onto a neighbouring country’s network. Just turn the toggle to Manual in the settings above and select a network (if you’re not sure which one to choose, check which network you connected to automatically when you arrived before you make the change). Once you’re back in the UK, set it back to automatic.