So far, O2 customers with a prepaid contract have had to do without 5G. But now the network should also be open to them soon. We reveal when the 5G activation will take place and which tariffs will benefit exactly.
As of June 6, the network operator O2 would like to enable its prepaid customers to access the 5G network. According to the provider, the changeover takes place automatically in current tariffs and at no additional cost when the option booked is next extended. However, customers who are still using an old contract are excluded from the adjustment. O2 advises you to switch to a current 5G tariff.
O2 unlocks 5G in prepaid S, M and L
Unlike Deutsche Telekom and Vodafone, O2 has not yet granted its prepaid customers access to the 5G network. The release of the fast data standard outside of the term tariffs is therefore a long overdue announcement. O2 said to TECHBOOK: “The activation of 5G for our new O2 prepaid tariffs is a milestone in the further development of our core O2 brand in this segment as well. It is the right time to meet the changed expectations of our prepaid customers.”
All customers who have booked the Prepaid S, M or L tariff benefit from the 5G release. Although O2 does not change the maximum speed of 225 Mbit/s downstream and 50 Mbit/s upstream, 5G brings some other advantages such as lower latency and better network availability.
Last tariff adjustment only in April
O2 only changed its prepaid tariffs at the beginning of April and has been offering them with more data volume but also higher prices ever since. Since then, the prepaid S has offered 6 GB of data instead of 3.5 GB and normally costs EUR 12.99 per month – EUR 3 more than before the changeover. With the O2 Prepaid M, customers get access to 12 GB of data (5.5 GB more) and pay 17.99 euros for it. After all, 18 GB are included in the prepaid L, which is available for 22.99 euros. O2 calculates its prepaid tariffs every 28 days. New customers receive a discount of 3 euros on the basic price for the first four weeks.
At the same time as this tariff adjustment, O2 has also increased the speed after the throttling. Before the changeover, users could only continue surfing at 32 kbit/s upstream and downstream once the included volume had been used up. At the beginning of April, however, the network operator increased the speed significantly to 384 kbit/s, and the step towards 5G is now taking place with a slight delay.
Also read: Large mobile network test 2023 shows significant differences in 5G coverage
The three prepaid tariffs in comparison
Users with old tariffs can switch
As mentioned at the beginning, the 5G activation only applies to the current prepaid tariffs from O2. We therefore recommend that users of older tariffs switch to benefit from both 5G and the higher speed after throttling. The network operator has launched a campaign especially for these customers, which includes the prepaid M with 18 instead of 12 GB of data volume. The offer is valid until September 5th and will be extended permanently with sufficient credit as long as customers do not cancel the option.