O2 today announces O2 Lease, the first smartphone leasing service in the UK. Available initially through O2 retail stores and over the phone, O2 Lease enables new or existing O2 customers to lease a new smartphone for one year with no upfront payment for £55 per month including insurance, 750 minutes, unlimited text and 500 MB of data*. Small businesses will also be able to take advantage of O2 Lease with a range of business tariffs. O2 Lease is unique in the market today.

O2 Lease puts the latest smartphone technology into the hands of the people who want it with minimal barriers, little long-term commitment, no upfront cost, no two-year contracts and crucially, at £55 with insurance, minutes, text and data an affordable price point. It provides certainty and predictability of costs for customers, a genuinely new way of engaging with those that want the latest smartphone and the latest technology every year, but either can’t afford the relatively high upfront cost of a normal 12 month contract or don’t want to be tied to a long contract. O2 Lease is the first tariff model available to all O2 customers that reflects the lifecycle of the smartphone industry.

Sally Cowdry, marketing and consumer director for O2 UK, said: “This is the first time a UK mobile operator has adopted a leasing model. We know that customers and small businesses are used to leasing everyday items from cars and washing machines to photocopiers and office space. They understand how it works and what the advantages of a leasing are. We have simply taken this idea and applied it to the smartphone market.”

How does it work?

• Customers can walk into an O2 retail store or existing O2 customers can call over the phone and lease a new 16GB smartphone with no upfront payment AND a 12 month contract at only £55 per month including insurance and 500 MB of data.
• The customer does not own the phone they simply lease it from O2 every year and at the end of their contract they can return the phone to O2 and take a new one with a new lease, or if they’d prefer, move to another O2 contract or move on.
• O2 includes insurance as part of the monthly payments, so customers are protected if they damage or lose the leased device.

O2 Lease is the latest element of O2’s ongoing strategy to innovate, lead and provide the best experience for its customers, at every level of the business. Sally Cowdry continued: “Innovation is not just about product, it is also about service, providing new ways for people to buy. We want to ensure that customers can pick and use the right option for them'

O2 Lease will be available through O2 retail stores to new and upgrading consumers or small businesses with between one and nine customers who want to join O2, and also via the O2 telephone upgrade centre. *Customers can pay £55 a month for the 16GB or £65 a month for the 32GB and receive:

• 750 minutes
• As many texts as needed
• Insurance for O2 Lease
• 500MB data
• Unlimited UK wifi with BT Openzone
• International Traveller Service, so calls are cheaper when you’re abroad
• A choice of Bolt Ons

At the end of the lease, customers simply return their phone to us and enjoy a new smartphone on another lease plan or any of our other payment options.