10 Kiss the Sky (not this guy)

Sky is currently offering 150,000 O2 customers a free 90-day trial on the Sky Sports iPhone app. This gets you access to Sky News and Sky Sports News, of course. But the real carrot is the chance to stream live Premier League games directly to your handset for nought pence. In a nip-and-tuck season that promises to be the most open we’ve known for years, what’s not to like about that?

9 Free Standard home broadband

If you sign up for O2’s iPhone tethering add-on at £9.49 per month, the network will throw in its Standard Home Broadband package for free.

8 Cheaper faster broadband too

If you’re in the market for a faster, higher end product, O2’s iPhone offers still cater for you when you opt for its tethering add-on. They’ll simply deduct £7.34 from the standard £9.79 and £17.13 a month from the monthly cost of the Premium and Pro broadband products.

7 More promos & giveaways to come

As O2’s flurry of promo activity shows, it’s not going to give up its iPhone customers without a real fight. As a result, we fancy there’ll be lots more incentives of this ilk in months to come. Especially when Vodafone enters the market next year.

Orange by contrast has a captive audience, like our very own Alex Buttle, who’ve been waiting ages to get their hands on an Apple mobile phone. Consequently, Orange has nothing like the same inventive as O2 to keep its subscriber base sweet.

6 Priority tickets to the biggest live shows at the UK’s most high-tech venue

Been to the O2 arena? It’s so gloriously swanky and high-tech as to make even the most modern venues look like London’s crumbling Astoria just before the bulldozers moved in.

Forthcoming events on the way in the run-up to the winter festivus include the Barclays ATP World Tour Finals, classic beat explosion survivors The Moody Blues and everyman funnyman Michael McIntyre.

As an O2 customer, you’ll be first in the queue for tickets for the best gigs at London’s glitziest concert hall. You’ll also get a 10 per cent food discount at all the top eateries dotted around the Arena, plus an early heads-up about exclusive competitions too.

5 And the same goes if you like your entertainment a little grungier

O2 also owns a string of venues across the UK that play host to gigs from up and coming bands and which offer an altogether more traditional – read stinky, sweaty and beery - live experience. O2 customers get 10 per cent off ticket prices and purchasing priority for these too.

4 Cloud bursting

All O2 iPhone owners get free access to over 7,500 Wi-Fi hotspots across the UK. Better still, O2 pledges that you as long as you’re using your iPhone for personal use, there’s no data limit to speak of. Result!

3 My O2 App

This natty bit of kit lets you view your account with a Columbo-style attention to detail, offering everything from a summary of your inclusive allowance, your last bill, any bolt-ons you’ve got and your tariffs. Free to download from the App Store.

2 Network upgrade

O2 last month announced a multi-million pound upgrade of its network. Under the plan, the carrier is to build 1,500 new sites around the UK, with an extra 200-odd earmarked for London alone. Once this is implemented, those network capacity problems reported by some O2 customers will disappear in a trice.

1 Think long term

O2 is already conducting trials of Long Term Evolution/4G technology, which will allow mobile phone owners to access download speeds of up to 100Mb. Imagine what you’ll be able to do with your iPhone once the technology is rolled out across its network.