High Demands On iPhone

O2 has substantially bulked up its customer service staff ahead of the high-profile launch of Apple's iPhone this week as the mobile operator looks to ensure that consumers that fork out for the expensive handset receive the best possible support.

O2 will add 1,400 staff prior to the launch of the handset on Friday to ensure it can cope with the unprecedented demand for the flashy phone. It will take on around 700 new customer service employees in Glasgow and Leeds, with a further 700 staff added across the company's chain of High Street stores.

O2 and Carphone Warehouse are bracing themselves for a stampede of customers when the iPhone goes on sale at 6pm on Friday.

Carphone Warehouse, which will keep its stores open late to satisfy demand for the touch-screen handset, has said it could sell as many as 10,000 iPhones in the first day alone despite the £279 price tag which comes on top of the contract with O2 that will cost between £35 and £55 a month. O2, which is supplying the handset directly to Carphone Warehouse, has ordered around 200,000 iPhones from Apple to satisfy demand over the Christmas period.

John McGuigan, head of O2's post-pay customer service unit, said that around 200 of the new staff will be dedicated to handling customer calls related to the iPhone, helping to activate and register the user if assistance is required.

He said: "It is very important to get the customer-service experience right."

He added that O2 will work closely with Apple which has already been closely involved with AT&T in the US to support the iPhone there.

Mr McGuigan added that it has also swelled its customer service employee ranks to ensure that its existing customers are not neglected as a result of increased support for the iPhone.