The 3G-only carrier gears up for this Friday’s release of the iPhone 3G and iPhone 3GS with both prepaid and contract plans, but with an additional $200 to unlock your iPhone.
If you’ve been holding off buying an iPhone until Apple’s uber-phone was available on 3, it’s now crunch time.
Australia’s fourth mobile carrier is set to join Telstra, Optus and Vodafone in the scramble for iPhone customers, with both the iPhone 3GS and the iPhone 3G available from this Friday.
The telco has mapped out four different capped plans for both contract and prepaid customers, the latter of which covers the iPhone for outright purchase – albeit at prices slightly higher than those changes by Apple itself.
Each plan includes a choice between the 8GB iPhone 3G, 16GB iPhone 3GS and 32GB iPhone 3GS, with contracts running over 24 months.
While tethering is permitted, the monthly data allowances apply only within 3’s mobile 2100MHz 3G ‘Broadband Zone’, which covers around 56% of Australia’s population. Roaming onto Telstra’s 850MHz Next G network, which 3 terms its ‘
Mega 3G network’, will cost you an extra 50c/MB.
The $39 cap plan, which includes 150MB of data and $150 of talk & text, is available with the 8GB iPhone 3G for $49 ($39 for the cap plan plus $10 per month for the handset). The 16GB iPhone 3GS bumps this to $57/month, or $63 with the 32GB iPhone 3GS.
The $49 cap plan bundles together 250MB of data plus $350 of talk & text. This is partnered to the 8GB iPhone 3G for $55/month, although the data allowance is raised to 750MB with the 16GB iPhone 3GS for $63/month, and just $4 per month extra – $67 – for the 32GB iPhone 3GS. This is likely to be one of 3’s best-selling plans.
The free iPhones kick in on the $79 cap, which combines 1GB of data and $650 of calls and SMS. This gives you a choice of the 8GB iPhone or the 16GB iPhone 3GS for free – we think that’d be a bit of a no-brainer! – with the 32GB iPhone 3GS adding an extra $10 per month to the bill.
3 is also offering a plan called ‘The Works’ with 3,000 minutes of calls, 500 SMS/MMS messages and 3GB of data for $110 per month with the 16GB iPhone 3GS, and $115 for the 32GB iPhone 3GS.
Excess data fees for the $39, $49 and $79 capped plans are charged at 50c/MB, and $10c/MB on The Works plan.
Additional data can be bought as a monthly bolt-on for any of the above plans: $6/month gets you an extra 500MB, $10/month gets you 1GB and $20/month gets you 3GB.
3 will also offer the iPhone on outright purchase – $759 for the iPhone 3G, $929 for the 16GB iPhone 3GS and $1,129 for the 32GB iPhone 3GS. But this doesn’t get you an unlocked iPhone which can be used on other carriers, such as by dropping in a local SIM card when you travel overseas. Unlocking your iPhone will cost an extra $199.
The prepaid cap plans start at $29 for $150 of calls and SMS, and 150MB of data; and peak at $99 for $1,000 of talk and text plus 2GB of data.
For full details, visit
http://www.three.com.au/iphone/pricing.