Virgin Mobile launches dream data plan for iPhone and other email handsets

sportback:

How unprofessional is that??? Click on the link 'Top 10 things to hate about the iPhone' right under the article, and you will read that the iPhone only supports EDGE, not 3G. Still, somehow the author thinks that the new VM's 3G plan will be a 'dream data plan for iPhone'!

Well done APC Magazine, for showing us how to write articles without having a clue about the subject.

Dan Warne:

2G (GSM) phones can be used on 3G networks. The comment in the "10 things to hate about the iPhone" article was about the fact that the iPhone won't be able to offer 3G speeds -- not that it will not work at all on 3G networks. 

Kev:

Don't be so bloody stupid.
GSM is a completely different technology to the 3G networks and there is no possible way for a GSM phone to use a 3G signal.

Most 3G operators issue dual mode handsets that support both 3G and GSM and also have a backup 2G network due to coverage issues caused by the constraints of 3G technology.

If you think that the iPhone will work on a 3G network then prepare to be bitterly disappointed.

awulf:

In the announcement of the iPhone, Steve Jobs mentioned that the iPhone will have 3G in the future. The US isn't up to scratch when it comes to 3G, thus GSM/EDGE is being used there for the iPhone, but here and other countries are reasonable 3G networks. This is probably one of the reasons why the iPhone wont be released till next year in other countries, because Apple needs to make the 3G version first.

Bosch:

So even if a user goes a mere 200MB over this wonderful new plan, that's a whopping $3000 extra on their monthly bill?

Sorry, we are still in the mobile-data dark ages and all telcos are all STILL in mega-rip-off mode.

Next please...

James Abbott:

Someone has to follow in 3's footsteps, because 2GB for $40, with the first six months at half price, on top of a $29 cap plan (which gets me like $160 worth of calls) at HSPDA speeds is a bloody good headstart. Forget the small screen comments (I use the 6210 hooked up with USB as a broadband modem on my PC), or driver size debates (Save it to your 2GB SDcard). Yes, I would like more than 2GB a month. But 3 are only charge $0.10 an additional megabyte, which although extortionate, is not ludicrous like Virgin current offering!
Come on Virgin/Optus make $10 a gigabyte the norm up until at least 5GB, and get to HSPDA... then again - I'm more than happy paying 3! 3 is catering to users future needs, and so deserve my money, but I think Virgin will too, probably Virgin US - like their qwerty phone offering in US for $100. Optus, smell the coffee! Look for consultants under age 30 who have had 20 years in telecomms. They do exist ;)

guest12358895835:

Or $15. $15,000 a GB must be a misprint. To pay more per GB than having an XServe RAID would seem ludicrous at best.

raindog:

$15,000 per Gb excess charges on an open ended deal and yet there are still knobs suggesting 3G as an ADSL replacement.

This virgin deal while better value than competitors is hardly value at all for anything but a few emails.

It matters little what handsets are and are not capable of using the service unless you desire fashion over function. Frequencies are at the discretion of the carriers, The whole 3G thing in Australia has become an over priced, confusing and costly mess with every offer designed to thwarte your ability to change carriers.

The truth is 3G becomes to Girls/Games/Gambling and other bundled tatt, (V8 supercars and Fox reruns on a 1.5" screen yeah that'd be worth paying for).

Yes for some up to the minute emails can be a bonus but for the rest the "cos we could and aren't we cool" isn't impressing anyone.

I am yet to see a wireless system that offers any form of reasonable download for even basic uses such as grabbing drivers for equipment at customer sites. at 265Mb+ how many HP printer drivers could one of my techs download a month and still remain profitable?

ADSL replacement? Only for the chronically bewildered!

Dan Warne:

I used to agree with people who said 3GB was simply not enough for broadband users, but having observed the usage of members of my family, I now know that I was wrong. My mum and dad, for example, frequently use less than 500MB a month, and quite often less than 200MB. They use the net frequently for web, email and downloading Mac OS X patches, but nothing else, and clearly, those tasks actually don't chew up much data.

So I think for someone who simply wanted web and email access, a $10 for 1GB plan could actually be OK as a primary internet access method. However the catch-22 is that I'd never recommend it to someone who'd be the kind of person to use less than a gigabyte a month, because they'd probably not be the kind of people to be able to tell when their computer was spambot infected or whatever. 

That said, there is an intrinsic level of protection in that it is essentially high speed dialup -- you have to connect the phone to your computer and make a connection in order to use it, so it wouldn't be like an 'always on' broadband connection. 

Virgin Mobile's pricing of $15,000 a gigabyte is completely ludicrous. I'm sure the two arguments their business people would make is that it allows them to make a good amount of incremental revenue if people exceed the 1GB allowance slightly, and that it's a significant disincentive for people to actually use the 1GB allowance, lest they exceed it, but it's still fricking ridiculous. Someone who didn't know what they were doing could literally bankrupt themselves in a single month's usage. 

That said, it's unlikely Virgin Mobile would get away with excess usage charges anyway. From the TIO website: "ISPs should provide customers with methods of monitoring their usage on plans with limits for both hours and usage. The TIO will investigate complaints where a consumer incurs a large bill for excess usage but has not been provided with adequate tools to manage their usage." 

There's also the TIO's policy on 'unlimited credit - financial overcommitment' which places some of the onus back on the telco to ensure that customers don't become over-indebted. e.g. if there are no systems to assess a 'credit limit' on a phone account or warn customers when spending is becoming abnormally high, the TIO will probably find in the customer's favour and order that the charges be reduced.

So, despite the ludicrous charges, Virgin Mobile is probably bearing more of the risk than the customer.

raindog:

Pretty much sums it up Dan, a service without some kind of finite limit is too dangerous for those not completely savvy with the technology, and a 1G/moth limit is way too little for those who are savvy.

Yous speak of relatives and I'd concur that in most cases monthly use for an average family minus I-tunes would be around the Gb. But until some reality is applied to pricing these packages are useless for most of the population.

I have no problems with the technology until marketing steps in and the claims of ADSL replacement and savior of the bush begin.

Carl:

It is highly doubtful that the iPhone will ever make it out as a commercial product anyway. Cisco owns the copyright to the name and has refused to give it up to Apple at this stage, so as soon as it gets released - wham injunction for copyright breach.

Jarrod Spiga:

Settle down everyone. Seriously, the stuff written in the article is valid as are your comments. Really, you're arguing over marketing BS.

Fact - Optus market their EDGE service (which arguable is a 2.5G or even 2.75G service) as a 3G service. Regular GSM handsets (including the iPhone) will work on an EDGE network. Therefore, the marketing pundits will say that the iPhone will work on Optus' 3G network.

The only other mention of anything 3G related is comparing the price structure of this new data plan to 3's lates X-series offerings - and there's no mention that the iPhone's going to work on that network. The point that was mentioned is that Virgin's pricing is better than that of 3's for data. Forget about underlying tech or speeds - on a byte per byte comparison, the article is correct.

The last thing that I'd like to point out is that no-one has confirmed wether the iPhone that is realeased here will be anything like the US version. For all we know, they may release a HSDPA version in AU instead of the EDGE version, and then all your arguing will bo over spilt milk.

Dan Warne:

Thanks for the even-handed comments, Jarrod. Nice to have someone with a cool head weighing into the debate :-)

However, I think you may be mistaken on Optus and EDGE: Optus never upgraded its 2G network to EDGE ... only Telstra did in Australia. I've got a GPRS/EDGE capable Blackberry which certainly doesn't connect to Optus in EDGE mode, only GPRS (but does connect to EDGE when used with a Telstra SIM card). RIM told me that Telstra was the only telco that offered it.

And I'm pretty sure Optus 3G really is WCDMA 3G... it's a separate network shared with Vodafone. (The HSDPA upgrade they are implementing by end of May will be on this network, but the $1billion 96% coverage HSDPA networ they are building will be yet another separate network, not shared with Voda.)

Fosters:

Settle down guys, you would never a bill from Virgin Mobile for such a large amount as they have credit limits (set by the customer) on each account so you would be told that you are spending LOTS of money and once it gets up to your limit it would automatically put a bar on your phone until they could speak to you. It works the same way as if your phone was stolen so that customers don't get ridiculous bills. You would recieve texts saying you are reaching your limit and could then phone to increase your limit, but without this being done you can't go over your set limit.