But, unlike the previous jump from iPhone to iPhone 3G, O2 is not offering a rebate to upgrade; instead, owners must either buy themselves out of their contract or move up “when it’s time to upgrade; it’s usually the last month of your contract”. And it will even take an extra £15-a-month ($24) tethering “bolt-on” to use a new feature that lets the handset be used as a modem.

That’s brought cries of #O2Fail in Twitterville (the Bourgeoisie’s direct-action tool of choice), and a petition (actually an, err, twitition; oh dear) to get O2 to change its mind. An O2 spokesperson, meanwhile, tells Sky News, its “deeply upset” and “quite shocked by the reaction”. The spokesperson said, “We heavily subsidise the iPhones, we can’t afford to just cut these [contracts] off.”