O2’s iPhone activation system buckling under pressure

Remember when the iPhone launched in the States? Remember how AT&T (NYSE: T)’s activation servers buckled under the massive deluge of launch-day iPhone owners trying to get their iPhone activated? Well, it seems activation-problems have crossed the pond and are afflicting O2 (NYSE: TEF)’s iPhone activation servers. With O2 selling iPhones like it’s nobody’s business, we’re not too surprised to hear that their activation system is having trouble handling the load.

Some newly-minted iPhone owners in the UK have reported that the activation process crashes after they enter their credit-card information in the iTunes-based activation process. The problems seem to be rooted in O2’s activation servers and not from Apple (NSDQ: AAPL) or iTunes. Apparently, the activation woes stem from low-credit users trying to activate their iPhone. You see, the activation system will check the user’s credit and require a £100 deposit payment if the user’s credit-score is not up to par. The activation system seems to be having trouble dealing with processing this particular payment.

We’d love to get an idea for how widespread this problem is. So, if any of you have experienced iPhone-activation problems in the UK, please drop us a line.

[Via: Macworld UK]