[Touch HD General] 12q12q:
I've had many years (10) negotiating with Orange every time I upgrade, this time was a nightmare to get them to give me more than 250MB, but on the 6th attempt of threatening to use my PAC code I secured the Web add on which is different to the 250MB offered on Panther 45, the add on is "unlimited" 500MB fair usage, they could not add this to Panther and I had to take Canary 40 so they could apply the add on.

My understanding of Orange data..

the 250MB offered on Panther is pretty strict as I think the terms even quote the price should you go over this limit.

the "unlimited" add on for £7.50 a month, 500MB fair usage is pretty relaxed and there is no charge for going over but obviously if you do it all the time and by a lot they will come after you (maybe).

Depending how hard you push, normally the £7.50 add on is 250MB, if you are negotiating a new contract then you can swing 500MB if they are feeling kind at that exact point in time.. (seems to be system dependant as some advisors in Orange are using a “new” system which is more/less flexible) If you are already in a contract you may struggle to get this.

Just so you know what is possible if you have been with them a while (I’m not bragging.. this is to assist you should you be in negotiations with Orange)

850 Mins

Unlimited Orange Mins

500 Texts

Unlimited Web add-on (500MB Fair Use)

Touch HD £170 (offer to pay more for phone as gives them more leeway with contract)

Account Credit of £150 so Touch HD cost effective £20..

£25 p/m for 18months.. I figure I could sell the Touch HD and cover my entire contract cost if I wanted, like I did with the N95 2 years ago, but the Touch HD is worth keeping :D

The contract is based around Canary 40, discounted £15 p/m and a further £7.50p/m credit to cover web add-on. There appears to be some weird system which only lets them add this data to Canary, Racoon and Dolphin.. they can’t boost the data on Panther to 500MB as it’s already included..

To "answer" the question about modem use:

I have over the past 10 years used my phone as a modem for occasional use on various Orange data plans, (I even remember connecting my Psion 5MX with my Ericsson r320 via IR whilst on a beach in the Maldives, this cost about 20p for some emails home… lol)

·	Old unlimited (up to 5 years ago) 10MB fair usage policy..!! LOL ..but at GPRS speeds I never got to 10MB..

·	4MB Orange World add on for £5

·	Unlimited off peak browsing

·	Last 18 months: 30MB for £8 a month.. I have breached this 30MB (by 5MB) in the past and there was no charge.

I normally turn of anything which auto updates on my laptop, antivirus, windows updates etc.. and this use has never been picked up by Orange or charged for. But we are talking less than 10-20MB a month.. I use it only for email and quick web look ups.

I think even if you use skype etc.. you’ll be fine, I really don’t think they will pick it up, but seriously I think modem use should be kept to an occasional level to avoid any nasty surprises. Imagine in 6 months time they get a new monitoring tool, crack down and bill you for 200MB modem use at £1.50-2 a MB!!

Last note, if Orange change their data allowance (upwards), if you are on the Panther package (250mb) a month the I'm not sure you’ll benefit as it’s all “wrapped up” in your contract. If you add the data as a “bolt on” at £7.50 a month should this allowance change then you should benefit as you could in theory stop the “bolt on” and take the new one the next month. But Orange have a habit of making this hard but limiting things to “new contracts” and keeping the base-line “bolt on” the same so existing customers get screwed.