Optus today went out and announced the plans and cost of an iPhone. So how much will this hot new tech gadget cost?
Pre-Paid:
$729 for the 8GB model.
$849 for the 16GB model.
This is about how much everyone was thinking the iPhone would cost a long time back before the clever lads at Apple announced that it would be available at $199 world wide.
As we now all know the $199 cost was with the phone on a 24 month contract. The only way to get the phone uncontracted is pre-paid. If you do get the pre-paid version it can be unlocked from the Optus network for $80 allowing you to use it with another provider.
Post-Paid:
The contracted plans look very good with large amounts of data available with the plans. With the basic $19 plan you get 100mb of data included and will need to pay $21 a month for the handset over 24 months. This means that on the day the phone goes on sale you won’t need to hand any cash over as they will take this from you every month on your mobile bill. If you don’t want to pay anything for your iPhone the $79 plan is a good one as this comes with 700mb of included data and you get the phone for $0 over 24 months or for $2 a month you can get the 16GB phone on the same plan.
Overall the plans look ok and the best part is how much data you get included in the plans. Take the current plans as an example you get 5MB of data capped for $9.95 on top of the cost of your plan. These iPhone plans might even be good for people who already have a 2G iPhone due to the amount of data that is provided.
Now we will wait and see what the other providers come out with as Telstra have given the basics of their plans but not the full details and Voderphone have still not come out with any pricing.
All I can say is bring on July 11.
About bloody time!
All in all I’m pretty impressed with these plans and there’s something for everyone.
I’ll probably be looking at either the $79 or $89 cap plans as it’s a good mix of voice and data plus the 16GB iPhone is free on the $89 plan.
Next question is how will Optus now go about getting everyone signed up as each mobile I’ve purchased I’ve had to endure a good 45+ minutes of stuffing around and with the thousands of people wanting an iPhone on Friday I can see this becoming a logistical nightmare…
Stu, any chance I can get on my work’s optus business plan, and get more than 10mb of data?
I think you guys are delusional. The price for the pre-paid seems bloody ridiculous to me. $800 phone, “COME ON”!
How much do you think a phone costs dude? The Nokia N95 8GB costs $795.00 to purchase outright. This shit isn’t free and it isn’t cheap either.
A lot of ’smart phones’ cost around $800 - $1000 to purchase outright and are normally subsidised by the mobile provider if you sign a contract hence me being able to get the iPhone for $0 on an $89.00 plan.
There appears to be an abundance of misinformed people on the internet screaming blue murder at the cost of the iPhone especially seeing that it doesn’t cost the US$199.00 that Steve Jobs quoted which was the price in the US if purchased on a contract and not purchased outright.
Shit you’re expecting the iPhone to be cheaper than an iPod? Cmon’
Yes I agree with Gav people just don’t understand how much mobile phones cost. A mobile provider like Optus don’t make money from the phone they make it from you using the phone on their network. This is why phones seem cheap when you get them on a plan as we know you will use our network and you are contracted to it.
Pre-Paid are more expensive as you are not contracted so they can not garentee the revenue like a contracted plan.
Anyway I will be getting one.