Decisions, decisions... though hopefully our research has made that final decision easier for you.

Best value Australian iPhone plans revealed!

Danny Gorog
04 August 2008, 2:50 PM

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UPDATED | Want to buy an iPhone 3G? We've gone through all the plans from all the telcos to find the best of the best.

Page 5 - Virgin Mobile iPhone 3G plans in detail

Optus-owned virtual telco Virgin Mobile has come to the iPhone party with guns blazing. Its big selling point is huge data caps, with a reasonable amount of voice calls included to boot. There are two basic plans: one for $70 which includes 1GB data and $520 worth of calls, and another plan for $100 which includes 5GB data and the same $520 worth of calls. (See our launch dayanalysis here: Virgin iPhone plans offer up to 5GB.

Just because Virgin has released these two specific iPhone data plans doesn't mean they are the ones you can choose from.

In fact, you can select any Virgin capped voice plan and add a data plan to it. If you're a low volume user spending just $5/month gets you 50MB in data, $10 gets you 300MB (this is the plan I'm on), and $15 gets you 1GB of data - more than enough for 99.9% of iPhone users.

Because Virgin piggybacks on the Optus network, coverage in major cities is good, but if you're planning on hitting the bush, Telstra is really the only option. Even though Optus is building out a 3G network that will have broad coverage across Australia, its 900MHz frequency doesn't work on the iPhone.

We've emailed Virgin to ask if unlocked and older generation iPhones can take up the special iPhone plans on a monthly basis but haven't heard back yet.

Continue to page 6: Three iPhone 3G plans in detail: Page 1 Intro; Page 2 Telstra iPhone 3G plans in detail; Page 3 Vodafone iPhone 3G plans in detail; Page 4 Optus iPhone 3G plans in detail; Page 5 Virgin Mobile iPhone 3G plans in detail; Page 6 Three iPhone 3G plans in detail; Page 7 The winners: best iPhone plans; Page 8 Best plans for iPhone 2G and other smartphones

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GregC (New user):

THIS IS F***EN BU*****T.. F**K U TELSTRA

10 July 2008, 11:36 PM (4 years ago)report abuse Send to a friend

Obi-Wan Kenobi (New user):

Quoting GregC:
THIS IS F***EN BU*****T.. F**K U TELSTRA

I would like to choose a U for "Umbrella".

11 July 2008, 9:41 AM (4 years ago)report abuse Send to a friend

techkid (New user):

Quoting Obi-Wan Kenobi:
THIS IS F***EN BU*****T.. F**K U TELSTRA
I would like to choose a U for "Umbrella".
LMAO LOL!

01 February 2009, 10:59 AM (4 years ago)report abuse Send to a friend

Me In Oz (User):

Good job APC, But ..................
Is it just me or does everyone see that none of these plans are what you would call good value !
Even the recommended Optus $59 plan has 80c per minute and 35 c flagfall !
We are really being screwed in Oz !!!

11 July 2008, 7:58 AM (4 years ago)report abuse Send to a friend

Hemma (New user):

Good Job Danny, but what if you break the contract?

11 July 2008, 9:36 AM (4 years ago)report abuse Send to a friend

ozman (New user):

Would have preferred a comprehensive table with the best value of each plan compared with the very best highlighted.

In any case you think Apple would have learnt from its computer woes - sell the phone unlocked - let the telcoms compete - let cunstomer pick the telcom

For each person who signs onto a plan there are at least 20 who want an unlocked phone where they choose the telcom

Is it about time Big Bro got involved and layed down rules - sell unlocked phones - let customers choose

11 July 2008, 11:16 AM (4 years ago)report abuse Send to a friend

Me In Oz (User):

Quoting ozman:
In any case you think Apple would have learnt from its computer woes

This IS Apple !
Where proprietary dogma and controlled distribution marketing goes way beyond that which MS was/is accused of !

11 July 2008, 11:30 AM (4 years ago)report abuse Send to a friend

JM (New user):

this is all well and good but everyone seems to be overlooking the ongoing cost of the iphones net capability so be prepared to fork out a bit more money if your planning on using that feature, which i assume most people will be. I, however will choose to stick with a normal phone and being content with waiting a few hours to go onto the internet

11 July 2008, 2:21 PM (4 years ago)report abuse Send to a friend

Dan Warne (Regular user):

The net capability is covered by the data allowance on all the plans described. There's no additional ISP subscription fee or anything like that if that's what you're wondering...

11 July 2008, 5:29 PM (4 years ago)report abuse Send to a friend

jezza1989 (New user):

yes its a good phone great even but is everyone forgetting that on the plans most of the time theres either none or very little internet usage included in them which mean u'll be paying alot more then jsut your plan amount to use the internet and emails and downloading songs costs to yer so great phone but all of its features cost u extra money so as far as i am concerned its just a phase thats hit us again and son ppl will find something better and want that

11 July 2008, 7:47 PM (4 years ago)report abuse Send to a friend

SirBargeArse (New user):

...and I love hearing when the Yanks complain that THEY get a raw deal on the "cell phone" plans. Sheesh!

Still... I'll personally wait till my current contract runs out and I'll see what my options are in November.

11 July 2008, 10:33 PM (4 years ago)report abuse Send to a friend

Wazza (New user):

Quoting SirBargeArse:
Still... I'll personally wait till my current contract runs out and I'll see what my options are in November.

Yeah I think that's the best approach at the moment (although I have to wait until March next year). Looking forward to a comparison with the Bold too. I'm not the world's biggest Fanboy so it will go against every fibre of my being to purchase an Apple product. But they've done a good job if I'm considering it :)

06 August 2008, 12:13 PM (4 years ago)report abuse Send to a friend

Sunshine (New user):

How about 3 (three.com.au) aren't they a good solution for unlocked iphones and other smartphones?

15 July 2008, 2:29 AM (4 years ago)report abuse Send to a friend

Dan Warne (Regular user):

They're good deals, however, Apple hasn't given Three a licence to sell the iPhone yet, and all the iPhones you can buy are locked to Telstra, Optus or Vodafone. The only way to get an iPhone on Three would be to buy a prepaid one from Optus, pay the $80 unlock fee from Optus and then sign up to a Three plan, which would be a rather costly way of doing it, especially considering the deals from Optus are actually surprisingly good.

23 July 2008, 10:49 AM (4 years ago)report abuse Send to a friend

Steve Chong (New user):

hi Dan, i'm a high end phone user and will really benefit from a plan that lets me make unlimited calls with fairly decent (but not extravagant data). I'm a little confused by the comparision between the timeless plans from optus and the topless plan from virigin? Which do you think is the better one? If i went with the virign deal how much do i have to pay for the iphone unit? Keen to know which to go for! thanks

08 September 2008, 2:02 AM (4 years ago)report abuse Send to a friend

SparkyB (New user):

buy one pre-paid on optus... no chance of that happening... buy the time i even got to read the article in apc about best iphone deals, and being over the moon about a prepaid iphone, the pre-paid option had been removed from optus website, and isn't even in your table... i never even got to see it on the optus website... where'd you get your information about that... are they still running pre-paid options, and just hiding them...

19 September 2008, 12:37 PM (4 years ago)report abuse Send to a friend

simonlovejoy (New user):

Is there an option on purchasing an unlocked or pay as you go 3G iphone in Oz? I'd heard there might be one but haven't found any further details... love to buy one as the contracts here in britain are ridiculous.

21 August 2008, 11:01 PM (4 years ago)report abuse Send to a friend

swiftos (New user):

The above gives no indication when the price lists were last reviewed.

PS: Using Firefox (3.03) on Windows XP, only the last table printed to paper. (Was able to fudge by printing to PDF first.) I have no idea why this is the case.

20 October 2008, 1:17 PM (4 years ago)report abuse Send to a friend

misttree (New user):

We live in Nhulunbuy (Gove) NT and both my sons have the new Iphone $100 plan with Virgin, my partner and I have next G phones with Telstra and yet the boys phones get better coverage.. The only problem with Virgin's plans are the insurance cover, my oldest son lost his phone and we claimed the insurance for a new one only to be told that they dont send replacement Iphones..But he could have a cheaper model and continue paying the premium price...

21 December 2008, 12:15 PM (4 years ago)report abuse Send to a friend

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Best value Australian iPhone plans revealed!

UPDATED | Want to buy an iPhone 3G? We've gone through all the plans from all the telcos to find the best of the best.

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GregC (New user):

Obi-Wan Kenobi (New user):

techkid (New user):

Me In Oz (User):

Hemma (New user):

ozman (New user):

Me In Oz (User):

JM (New user):

Dan Warne (Regular user):

jezza1989 (New user):

SirBargeArse (New user):

Wazza (New user):

Sunshine (New user):

Dan Warne (Regular user):

Steve Chong (New user):

SparkyB (New user):

simonlovejoy (New user):

swiftos (New user):

misttree (New user):