o2 UK Unofficial Information

o2 online carries a range of the latest mobiles and smartphones, or if you prefer, you can keep your own handset and go for a SIM-only deal

Four free SIM cards!

o2 is offering two free SIM cards. Each SIM comes with unlimited texts when you top up just £5 a month. Get your SIM cards at freesimo2.o2.co.uk

+447802 000332 (contract), or +447802 092035 (pay as you go).

This number is used to configure your phone for sending text messages. (See SMS page)

If your o2 handset is stolen, call o2 immediately:

• Contract: 08705 214000
• Pre-pay: 08705 678678

As well as being able to access your o2 email from the o2 website, you can also access your mail from common email applications like Outlook, or from your PDA email application (e.g. Pocket PC, Palm or Psion).

The details needed are as follows:

Incoming (POP3) server: mail.o2.co.uk
Outgoing (SMTP) server: smtp.o2.co.uk or mail.o2.co.uk
Username: <Your o2 logon name>@o2.co.uk (e.g. myusername@o2.co.uk)
Password: The password used to log on to the o2 website

Here are a couple of options for those looking for an o2 SIM card:

• UK residents can get up to four free o2 Pay-as-you-go SIM cards from freesimo2.o2.co.uk.
• Alternatively, you can get a SIM card on contract directly from o2 online

Free minutes listed in the o2 online tariffs can be used for off peak calling to other networks. Calls during peak times will be billed at the published rates. Depending on the tariff, your inclusive minutes are for use at off peak times only. Off Peak free minutes on Online OffPeak 500 and Online OffPeak 750 tariffs apply to calls to standard rate fixed lines, other O2 mobiles and voicemail 901 calls.

"Any network" free minutes apply to standard rate UK fixed lines, calls to any UK network mobiles and voicemail 901 calls.

• You can cancel your contract within the first 14 days without charge
• If you've entered into a deal with a handset, you'll have agreed to a minimum 12 month O2 airtime contract. Charges paid by direct debit.
• If you've been in your contract for more than 12 months, you can terminate your account giving the required notice.

When you take out a contract with o2 that includes a handset, the handset is either free or low-priced, as the cost of the handset is built-in to the first year's worth of contract. If you've been on contract for at least 12 months, you probably qualify for a handset upgrade.

If you want to upgrade, you can do so via the o2 online website, or by calling the o2 upgrade line on 08702 259933

If you want to connect your laptop to the Internet while away from home or the office, o2 offers a Mobile Broadband service, and their 3G network covers a reasonable amount of the UK.

o2's Mobile Broadband service is supplied with a PC and Mac compatible USB dongle, and costs £15 a month, with a 3 gig a month cap. There's also a Pay As You Go service.

Details at broadband.o2.co.uk/mobile or on our o2 Mobile Broadband page

The PIN code for your o2 SIM card is printed on the delivery slip that comes with your SIM card. If in doubt, try O2's default PIN code for SIM cards, which is either 0000 or 4321.

Note that you get three tries to enter the PIN, and your phone will be locked if you fail after these tries. You'll then need to contact o2 to get a PUK code.

You will be asked for your PUK code if you've had more goes at guessing your SIM card PIN code than you're allowed.

You'll need to contact o2's Customer Services for your PUK code - For o2's Customer Services, dial 1702 from your mobile, or call 0906 302 0220.

You can also get your PUK online here: o2 PUK Code

Users with an o2 account should be able to use their phone overseas, but note the following:

• You need to contact Customer Services to enable "International roaming".
• Not all phones work in all parts of the world - For example, the US uses a different frequency range to Europe, and you'll need a get a tri-band phone.

• WAP and GPRS access whilst you are abroad is not free
• Text messaging and data access from abroad (including Channel Islands and Isle of Man) will be charged at the foreign network operators prevailing rates for a text back to the UK.
• Text messages sent from the UK to non-UK mobiles on foreign networks will not be included in your free allowances and will more than a UK-to-UK text message.

For details of using o2 overseas, see the o2 Traveling Abroad page on o2's site

To access your voicemail account from a standard landline phone, you'll need to use your personal o2 voicemail retrieval phone number. If you don't already have this number, dial +44 7802 090100 and when prompted, enter your o2 mobile phone number. The system will check your account, then send you a text message which contains a phone number that you can use to access your voicemail while you are overseas.

To access your o2 voicemail, dial your personal voicemail retrieval phone number and when connected, enter your mobile phone number followed by a *. During the greeting, key *<your PIN>, then key 2.

If outside the UK, remember to prefix with +44 and lose the first '0', e.g. +447802 090100.

Alternatively: We've also had luck accessing o2 voicemail while roaming, by dialling our own o2 mobile number from our o2 handset. It seems that with some roaming partners, the system recognises it's you that's dialling, and diverts you to your own voicemail account.

• Turn on: 1750
• Turn off: 1760

To change your greeting, you need to connect to your mailbox (as above). Then, go to the o2 Voicemail Main Menu, and select 'Greetings', which is option 3. You can change your name and your voicemail answerphone greeting from here.