Orange, Vodafone and O2 announce iPad data plans

With the iPad now officially due to arrive in the UK on 28 May, Orange was first off the mark to release its iPad data plans last Friday.

Orange's 'pay for what you use' iPad plan charges 5p per MB used each month, costing no more than £40 per month for the basic package. The operator is also offering budget daily, weekly and monthly bundles for frequent users, with each extra MB charged at 5p.

iPad bundle	Price	UK usage allowance
iPad Daily (valid 1 day until midnight)	£2	200 MB
iPad Weekly (valid 7 days until midnight)	£7.50	1 GB
iPad Monthly 15 (recurring)	£15	3 GB + unlimited browsing at Wi-Fi hotspots
iPad Monthly 25 (recurring)	£25	10 GB + unlimited browsing at Wi-Fi hotspots

In response, O₂ and Vodafone both announced their rival data plans yesterday.

Instead of offering a pay-per-meg tariff like Orange, O₂ is proposing daily and monthly plans with 500 MB and unlimited Wi-Fi for £2 per day (including access to BT's Openzone and O₂'s The Cloud Wi-Fi hotspots), 1 GB plus unlimited Wi-Fi for £10 per month, or 3 GB plus unlimited Wi-Fi for £15 per month. Selected top-ups are also available for customers needing to surf more than expected.

Vodafone's plans look a little more meagre than those of both O₂ and Orange with 1 GB per month for £10 or 5 GB per month for £25.




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