Paul Hagon has written a summary of pricing for the iPhone in Australia. I’ve taken the data, noted information from Telstra, Optus and Vodafone, added in up-front and ongoing costs for handsets.
| Vendor | Plans | Total Cost [1] |
Cost minus incl. Voice/TXT |
| Optus 3G mobile broadband | $30 | 720 | 720 |
| Vodafone 3G mobile broadband | $35 | 840 | 840 |
| Optus | $19 | 1032 | 982 |
| Optus 3G wireless broadband | $45 | 1080 | 1080 |
| Optus 3G wireless broadband | $50 | 1200 | 1200 |
| Optus 3G wireless broadband | $60 | 1440 | 1440 |
| Optus | $49 | 1464 | 1164 |
| Optus | $59 | 1584 | 1234 |
| Telstra | $59 | 1815 | 1790 |
| Optus | $79 | 1944 | 1394 |
| Vodafone | $69 | 1965 | 1655 |
| Optus | $89 | 2136 | 1536 |
| Telstra | $89 | 2315 | 2265 |
| Vodafone | $99 | 2595 | 1995 |
| Telstra | $109 | 2685 | 2615 |
| Vodafone | $119 | 3075 | 2275 |
| Telstra | $129 | 3096 | 3006 |
| Optus | $149 | 3576 | 2376 |
| Vodafone | $169 | 4235 | 3035 |
| Optus | $179 | 4296 | 2796 |
[1] Over a 24 months contract period
It’s clear that Optus has the most expensive, but looking at total cost of ownership, Vodafone comes out the most expensive.
My picks out of the bunch are:
Optus $59 plan
- 16GB iPhone costs: add $7 per month
- Voice/TXT incl: $350
- Data: 500MB
- Cost after 24 months: $1584
Vodafone $99 plan (for if you use lots of calls for work like me)
- 16GB iPhone cost: $219 up-front
- Voice/TXT incl: $600
- Data: 500MB
- Cost after 24 months: $2595
And if you want a whole 1GB of data for your iPhone …
Optus $149 plan
- 16GB iPhone cost: ?
- Voice/TXT incl: none
- Data: 1GB
- Cost after 24 months: $3576
If you have any details you’d like to share on these plans you can contribute to my spreadsheet on Googledocs.
M
17 July, 2008 at 4:14 am
We will get a co-op alternative to the Australian telephone companies up and running if 10,000 people join: https://www.thepoint.com/campaigns/fauc
Please let everyone know! Hopefully an alternative will be more receptive to new technology and won’t charge as much as it does for the iPhone’s basic functions.
At the very least, it’ll send pressure to Telstra, Optus, etc. to lower their prices.
21 July, 2008 at 5:39 pm
Over the next couple of months broadband providers will face new competition. Companies are on their way and will be available on some of the biggest names. Currently T-Mobile, Vodafone and Three have announced their tariffs with Orange rumored to follow suit by the start of next year (2008).