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3 Launches iPhone Plans, Without An iPhone...
Posted by Nick Broughall at 9:06 AM on August 1, 2008
Despite the fact that they launched a petition to Apple to get the iPhone for their customers, 3 still can't sell you an iPhone. But thanks to Optus letting you unlock their pre-paid iPhones, we know that you can get an iPhone working on 3's network anyway, no hacking required.
So, in what can only be considered a brilliant move (under the circumstances) they've launched plans specifically for the iPhone - where you supply the iPhone.
What's more, they'll actually pay you for your iPhone. That's right! 3 will actually offset some of the cost of buying a pre-paid Optus iPhone outright and unlocking it so you can use it on 3.
So, you can spend $809 (8GB) or $949 (16GB) to get an unlocked iPhone, and when you take it to 3, they'll give you $300. The catch, of course, is that you need to sign up to a 24 month contract.
The plans are pretty decent cost-wise, as you can see from the table:
It's worth remembering that even though 3 has a really good deal when it comes to mobile data and pricing on their 3G network, as soon as you step away from that, you start roaming on Telstra's 2G network, and data starts costing $1.65 per MB.
Still, for city dwellers, this is a pretty good option. Does it better the new Virgin plans? Well, there's more variety. And that $300 cash back is well worth looking at.
It's good to see that all the major networks are now on the iPhone bandwagon in Australia, even if you do need to run around a bit to get there.
Comments
dave
Posted August 1, 2008 5:12 PM
The Three plan, for $49, isn't as good as Virgin. You pay almost the same, but you get far less free calls. Also, you have to pay for everything up front and visit two stores.
At least these Three plans have shown that Three aren't getting the iphone, so I know to drop them and go to Virgin when my contract finishes.
Nick O'Neill
Posted September 9, 2008 10:39 AM
Have you used Virgin before? Virgin run off Optus, have much worse services and RUN OFF OPTUS. I've never been sooooo pissed off with a company before as I have with Optus. Continual billing problems, extremely poor service over the phone, slow internet speeds even though they claim the opposite. I wouldn't go anywhere near Optus if I were you.
Jane
Posted September 11, 2008 7:01 PM
"and when you take it to 3, they'll give you $300."
Is this $300 cash back or is that the $300 included in the value of the cap?