Vodafone and Three unleash aggressive prepaid iPad 3G plans, starting at $10 for 250MB and topped by an ‘unlimited’ plan for just $50 per month, with up to 14GB of data rollover.
The prepaid 3G picture for Apple’s iPad is now complete, with VHA siblings Vodafone and Three revealing their much-anticipated plans.
And while a competitive offering was on the cards, no-one expected this to include a US-style ‘unlimited data’ prepaid plan. But that’s just what Vodafone has put on the table for $50 per month.
Vodafone’s other prepaid plans kick off at $10 for 250MB, $15 for 1GB and $30 for 4GB, all with a 30 day use-by period.
As expected, the carrier also offers recharge packs with longer expiry dates – $100 will get you 6GB for 180 days (six months), with $150 scoring 12GB that stays with you for a full year.
For more details, click here.
By comparison, Three has stumped up for four plans – all of which are priced to please if you’re under the wing of the carrier’s limited 3G network.
The 30 day plans are costed at $15 for 500MB, $30 for 2GB and $50 for 4GB. There’s also a twin of Vodafone’s $150/12GB/365 day pack, except that Three slashes the price by a whole dollar.
Three is also listing a ‘data bonus’ of 1GB for the $15 plan plus 2GB for for the $30 and $50 plans which it says can be applied each month – boosting the actual data allowances to 1.5GB for $15, 4GB for $30 and 6GB for $50.
(There’s also a one-off 200MB bonus for all microSIM starter kits if the account is activated online.)
Finally, Three’s month-by-month plans are set at $15 for 1GB and $29 for 3GB.
For more details, click here.
Both Vodafone and Three allow unused data to be carried over from one month to the next for all recharges (except the $50 unlimited pack, of course) and up to 14GB can be accumulated.
It should also be noted that the iPad doesn’t support the secondary 900MHz 3G network used by Vodafone (and Optus) primarily in regional areas, so your iPad’s Internet adventuring will be limited to the coverage of those carrier’s primary 2100MHz 3G networks.
Pics of all the carriers' microSIMs below!
