O2 Blog

O2 network coverage disruption [update 23rd August]

23/08 08:00: update

July network outage. Making it up to our customers.

We're making it up to our customers for the loss of service some of them experienced during the unprecedented network issue in July. We recognise that this caused inconvenience and frustration to those impacted over that one-day period.

Campus Party – what’s going down in Berlin?

Since the opening ceremony of Campus Party 2012 on Tuesday night, Berlin’s former Tempelhof airport has been abuzz with inspiration, ideas and excitement about the new digital age.

2012, Berlin: Let the Campus Party begin!

Tuesday 21 August saw the launch of the largest ever Campus Party in Berlin's former Tempelhof airport. Richard George, roving reporter from Telefónica UK, joins 10,000 of Europe's brightest tech minds and takes over the O2 Blog to share his experience of the grand opening...

Unused digital skills? That’ll be £6.7Billion please

With A-Level results just behind us and GCSE results due tomorrow, we’re firmly in the time where lots of young people will be taking their first steps on the career ladder.

This is the class of 2012, a generation that has grown up with the internet and holds a unique set of natural digital skills.

To show how important young people are to businesses and the digital skills they can offer, we completed some research and want to share some of the findings with you here:

• Businesses expect 21% of their growth over the next three years to come from digital channels, but consider only 35 per cent of their staff to be digitally savvy.

• Over three-quarters of businesses acknowledge that young people have great digital skills, but less than 24% are planning to offer a first time job to a young person in the coming months.

• The unused digital skills of young people is estimated to be worth £6.7 billion.

This paints quite a worrying picture and shows the need for businesses to recognise the value of young people and start harnessing their natural skills. At a time when business clearly needs digital skills, we're overlooking a group of digital natives that are raring to go.

We had a quick chat with one of our apprentices, Daryl Williams, to get his view on the research and see what he thinks about digital skills.

After completing his first year of A-Levels, Daryl left college and picked-up work in labouring and retail. He then joined the O2 apprenticeship scheme in September 2010 and is currently working in the digital innovation team.

"It’s quite fascinating really - well, fascinating and worrying! Clearly the value of young people in a lot of businesses is underrated. I think sometimes companies may be too keen on experienced people for specific roles and could be missing a trick by not giving a young person a shot.

I also think young people can do more to show off what they're capable of. I did a bit of IT at school but didn't realise how much I knew until I started my internship. I spend quite a bit of time on Facebook and twitter, but I had no idea that could actually help me in my job.

I’d encourage everyone to really focus on showcasing their digital skills and thinking about how they could be important in the job they’re applying for. Not everyone has these skills naturally, so make sure you make the most of them and champion the value of them to potential employees.”

For more background and information on the research you can visit our media centre. For information on opportunities at o2 you can visit o2careers.co.uk.

 

 

 

It’s here. Priority Sports powered by Nike+

O2 customers on Android can now access the best sports offers and experiences from Nike+ via the Priority Sports app. It’s the UK’s most exclusive digital sports club. Whether you’re into sports fashion or full-on fitness this app will bring you closer to sport. The way you want.

Post-Olympics, 4G is lining up in the network fast lane

O2’s Chief Executive Ronan Dunne explains how O2 is preparing for 4G in the wake of the most digitally connected event Britain has ever seen 

2012 Olympic glory has shown Great Britain at its best. The sense of community, celebration and connectivity across our nation over the last three weeks has been unique and exceptional. Quite simply - and to echo a cast of thousands - it has brought a nation together.

Take to the stage with Think Big and Huw Stephens

If you’re a budding musician between the ages of 16 and 25 you could find yourself a brand new set of bandmates with O2 Think Big. We’ve hooked up with DJ, festival producer and hero of the new music scene, Huw Stephens, to create The Think Big Band. Together, they’re looking for up to ten musicians – instrumentalists, vocalists, DJs, MCs, you name it – to come together and create a new band, from scratch, in just three months.

Upgrade your pocket with the O2 Pocket Hotspot

Getting up to five devices online together whilst out and about just got far easier, with the new Pay & Go O2 Pocket Hotspot.

Launched today, the clever little wallet-sized gizmo takes its O2 mobile broadband 3G connection and shares it securely over wifi using 802.11 b/g/n with your laptops, tablets, cameras or even games consoles, wherever you go.

Students get in on the act with the new O2 Learn app

In November 2010, we set out to create Britain's biggest classroom. Since then, we've seen almost 3000 lessons uploaded which feature teachers, students and even stars such as Tim Henman and  Arsenal's Bacary Sagna. A staggering total of over 700,000 lessons have been delivered using O2 Learn. So, we decided it was time to up the game even further...