No BlackBerry PlayBook From O2 UK
Here in the United Kingdom, RIM’s first tablet, the BlackBerry PlayBook is released today; however if you are an O2 customer who was hoping O2 UK would offer you the opportunity to purchase the BlackBerry PlayBook then you are in for a disappointment.
According to an articl over on Ubergizmo, the guys over at Engadget are reporting that O2 UK will not be selling the RIM BlackBerry PlayBook to their customers and have informed those who showed interest in the 7-inch slate.
Apparently the word is O2 told interested parties that they will not offer the BlackBerry PlayBook due to “some issues with the end to end customer experience,” although O2 didn’t elaborates as to the specifics of those “issues.”
However apparently the carrier is continuing to work closely with Research In Motion on BlackBerry PlayBook gear and releases and there is always a possibility the carrier will offer the tablet at some point in the future, but for now anyone wanting the BlackBerry PlayBook needn’t go to O2.
Any of our O2 UK readers unhappy with O2’s decision not to offer the BlackBerry PlayBook?
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“end-to-end customer experienceâ€
Has nothing to do with the apps. Read the actual e-mail in full from O2—-most (all?) wireless carriers are hesitant to support the Playbook.
They do not want to carry the WiFi version, however in the e-mail O2 states they will work with RIM to carry the 3G/4G radio version of the Playbook.
The issue they have is the WiFi version can be ‘bridged’ (different than tethering) to a Blackberry phone and use it’s data plan undetected to the carrier. This is not ideal for them as they can not charge for a separate data plan, or for ‘tethering support’ like they can with Android and iOS devices. Even worse since most carriers have a ‘cheaper’ blackberry data plan available since blackberry compression is very light on their networks.
It’s good for the end user, they can use the internet without paying an additional fee like with other tablets, and for some carriers—even pay a cheaper data plan, but for wireless carriers like O2—they’re not able to charge the customer extra, so they’re not selling the WiFi version.
So no WiFi support from O2, but they will sell 3G/4G bundled with a data plan.