The phone will set you back $399 up front, and you can get on a prepaid plan for as little as $30 a month, which gets you “unlimited* data with access to BlackBerry email, IM, social networking & Internet browsing”. The asterisk means it’s not actually unlimited at all, but restricted by “fair use” policies – I know, kind of misleading, but that doesn’t mean it isn’t a good deal for people wanting to develop a Blackberry addiction without a contract…

[Optus]

Vodafone best value in market with Prepaid Mobile Broadband# Starter Pack^

SYDNEY – July 27, 2009 –Vodafone Australia has upped the ante in the Prepaid Mobile Broadband# market, dropping the price of its Prepaid Mobile Broadband Starter Pack^ to $129 (was $149).

Vodafone’s Prepaid Mobile Broadband Starter Pack^ comes with a stylish USB modem internet stick and, if customers activate their Starter Pack^ between 22 July 2009 and 30 September 2009, they will also receive a huge 2GB of included data (normally 500MB included data).

Vodafone Prepaid Mobile Broadband customers can purchase Prepaid Mobile Broadband recharges for $19 (500MB), $29 (1GB) or $49 (3GB). Plus, unused data can be rolled over if customers recharge within 30 days of connection or their last recharge.

Helen Tuffy, Head of Mobile Broadband at Vodafone Australia said, “Vodafone’s Prepaid Mobile Broadband gives customers the freedom and benefits of mobile broadband without any strings attached. Now customers can enjoy the rewards of prepaid services and high-speed# wireless internet at an even more affordable price.”

For more information, please visit http://www.vodafone.com.au/personal/mobilebroadband/mobile-broadband.htm

-ENDS-

Of course, there are some conditions, as you can read here:

Terms & Conditions: *Optus Pre-Paid Bonus Weekend: Available to Optus & Boost Pre-Paid Mobile customers. Credit expires in 30 days. Minimum recharge $30. Offer starts 12:01am AEST 13/06/09. Ends 11.59pm AEST 14/06/09. You will receive $50 of Rev-Up Bonus which can be used for standard talk and text. Rev-Up Bonus excludes premium SMS and content, international roaming charges, Zoo content usage charges, Instant Messenger, video calling, 966 and satellite calls. Bonus credit will be applied to your account within 72 hours of activation. Customers will be sent an SMS notification upon their Bonus Credit being applied to their balance. For some call types, any free minutes or text included in your calling offer will be used before your Rev-Up Bonus is used. Visit www.optus.com.au/bigweekend for more info. ^SMS to 966: SMS to 966 is free of charge, as is reminder sent to customers on Saturday 13/06/09 at 10.00am AEST. Optus accepts no liability for any loss as a result of a delay in receiving the SMS reminder.

[Optus]

The move comes as part of a campaign that orders people to “Identify yourself!”, just like when Franco was a dictator. They want pre-paid phones to be associated with the user’s personal information, including name, address, and national ID numbers (the equivalent to the Social Security number in the US). The new law also requires operators to register every single call made and hold the information for a year.

The reasoning of the European Union and the retarded Spanish government is that, by doing this, they can avoid bomb attacks like the ones that happened in Madrid’s train stations in March 11, 2004, where terrorist triggered bombs using mobile phones, killing 191 people and wounding 1,800. As if the terrorists couldn’t forge identification data.

But does this make sense? Yes, bombs can be triggered with mobile phones, but what difference does this make? They can be triggered by suicide bombers too, clocks, radio control, and by any other method you can think about. The fact is that there were bombs in Spain—and everywhere else—being triggered by a variety of methods before mobile phones arrived. Mobile Phones are just one of them.

Do these irrational fears justify a campaign to control the communication of private citizens, especially when the bad guys can avoid the controls and use alternative methods to wreak havoc in society?

Paraphrasing Churchill: Do you want to die free and standing up, or live under fear and control, like in a fascist state? [El Mundo]

[Optus - Thanks readerr0r!]

Vodafone introduces mobile prepaid recharge with PayPal

Vodafone prepaid customers are the first in Australia to enjoy the convenience of PayPal mobile recharge capabilities.

“Mobiles have come a long way in a short time,” said Russell Hewitt, CEO at Vodafone Australia. “Now, Vodafone is harnessing the capabilities of mobiles to make life even easier for our customers. Australians are highly mobile and they often need to recharge on the move, so we’ve made that possible today.”

“This is great news for Vodafone customers and is a perfect solution that is specifically designed to support mobile communications products and services,” added Hewitt.

Vodafone prepaid customers simply register for a PayPal account online and select from either direct debit or credit card payment. Once the PayPal account is activated, customers can recharge their Vodafone Prepaid Cap or Extras Pack directly from their mobile phone via the Vodafone live! mobile content portal.

The PayPal payment engine authenticates the customer’s identity with a unique user name and password. At the completion of the transaction, the customer receives a recharge PIN via SMS or email, with the prepaid credit redeemed with a free call to 1555.

Vodafone is the first company in Australia to offer mobile recharge services, and only the second company in the world to introduce PayPal mobile recharge, following a similar launch by Vodafone Italy in August.

PayPal Australia’s Managing Director, Andrew Pipolo, said: “Not only is the process more convenient, it’s also very secure because PayPal never shares customers’ financial information.”

Vodafone prepaid customers can fund their PayPal transaction from their bank account, credit card, debit card or via their PayPal account balance.

[Vodafone]

For $149, you get 12GB of data that you can use any time you wish over the next 12 months. Of course, you’ll also have to pick yourself up an internet key ($129) to use the service, but that’s not too bad. And if you, unlike me, reckon you could fly through your mobile data within 30 days, there are also a heap of other options for you, which are detailed below the fold…- $15 (500MB)
- $29 (2GB)
- $49 (4GB)

All four of these pre-paid options (including the 12GB, $149 option) include 10 SMS messages as well as the data. Which kind of sucks for the big plan: 12GB, 365 days and only 10 SMS messages? They could have at least jacked it up to 20…

Get more on the go with 3 Mobile Broadband Prepaid

3 offers Internet Key for $129 and a choice of recharge options including $29 for 2GB

SYDNEY, 11 November 2008 – 3 has expanded its Mobile Broadband offering with Mobile Broadband Prepaid – offering fast, flexible and great value internet access without the hassle of being tied to a fixed line.

Available from Wednesday, 12th November, 3’s Mobile Broadband Prepaid recharge options include $15 for 500MB of data, $29 for 2GB and $49 for 4GB with a 30 day expiry. And in a market first, 3’s customers can choose to prepay their internet for a year by paying $149 for 12GB which comes with a massive 12-month expiry. With Christmas around the corner, it’s bound to be a great gift option.

“3’s customers want user-friendly, affordable internet on-the-go and by extending our mobile broadband offering to include Prepaid we’ve now got a complete range of internet solutions for our customers,” said Noel Hamill, Director Sales, Marketing & Product at 3.

“3’s Mobile Broadband Prepaid gives customers the freedom and flexibility to enjoy the internet on their own terms,” he said.

Making 3 Mobile Broadband Prepaid more attractive than ever, 3 has revamped its Internet Key modem, so customers can surf in style by picking from a modem with a splash of green, orange or blue.

The Internet Key modem slots into a USB port for instant wireless broadband access and is available with a prepaid starter kit for just $129. The prepaid starter kit comes with 100MB of data. It’s compact size and true plug and play experience allows users to insert it into a Mac or Windows PC for simple Internet access and ultimate mobility.

Easy Recharge
For recharge options, customers can choose from one of the following three ways;

Use a credit card online (on My3 directly from the connection manager)
Set up auto recharge online, by setting the recharge amount on a preferred day of the month
Purchase a voucher from a 3 Store, 3 Dealer or at over 15,000 participating outlets nationally

Recharges have a 30 day expiry period except for the $149 recharge which has a 365 day expiry period.

Where to Buy
Get hooked up with 3’s Mobile Broadband Prepaid from Wednesday, 12th November 2008 at 3 Stores and 3 Dealers across Australia, Mo’s Mobiles, Allphones, Dick Smith Electronics, Tandy, Powerhouse and BIG W, www.three.com.au or by calling 133 907.

[Three]

[Optus]

Optus launches Australian Pre-Paid Mobile First – IOU Credit

Optus announced today a new Pre-Paid Mobile feature that will enable Optus Pre-Paid Mobile customers who run out of credit, when they need to make an urgent phone call or text, the chance to borrow $3 by simply texting IOU to 468 (IOU) – a FREE text.

Optus Pre-Paid IOU Credit, an Australian first, is designed to provide a solution for Pre-Paid customers who hate the inconvenience of running out of credit at untimely moments. When customers next re-charge they will automatically reimburse Optus from their account.

The service will be available to all existing and new Pre-Paid Mobile Optus customers across all rate plans.

Michael Smith, Optus Corporate and Consumer Group Marketing Director said, “This is another example of Optus offering innovative solutions for its customers. Research shows us that customers feel confident using Pre-Paid mobile as a way to control spending, however they do not like running out of credit. Optus IOU Credit means customers will not be caught short when they need to make important calls.”

Optus is a leader in the Australian Pre-Paid market with over 3.9 million Pre-Paid mobile customers* and has a reputation of offering customers value, recently launching ‘Recharge and Always Win’ which guarantees a prize for all customers who recharge with $30 or more.

To find out more about the IOU product visit www.optus.com.au/ioucredit

AT&T Free Msg: Unlimited MEdia Net Packages will no longer be available as of 11/12. 1 MB and 5 MB MEdia Net packages still available. Call 611 for details

Hey, at least the message was free. The 1Mb and 5MB options will be little consolation to iPhone users, who can easily pass the 5MB barrier during a day of casual browsing and will then incur a hilarious $US480 per gigabyte overage charge. Is this punishment for not heeding AT&T’s spooky warnings last month? Reader Cyber Llama relates his situation, in which he’s got lots of company:

Like many other iPhone users, I’m far, far too cheap to actually pay for the iPhone Plan. At the 25 cents a minute rate, I only manage to do about 10 dollars worth of talking per month (most of my calls are probably a minute long on average) so with unlimited MEdia Net I get by at ~$30 a month. I’m quite sure I’m not a alone — lots of people don’t want to pay for thousands of unused talk minutes and unlimited text messages that they will never use.

With that in mind, it’s easy to see why AT&T’s decision fills me with more rage than a sack full of hungry badgers. To make matters worse, I called 611 and the customer service representative had the balls to say that the reason AT&T was doing away with the unlimited package was because “no one used it” and it “didn’t make sense to have it”.

I’m sure we’ll hear more about this, as people tend to respond kind of seriously when you effectively brick their expensive new iPhone (or Palm, or Blackberry), even if the plan wasn’t necessarily meant for their device. Strangely enough the AT&T website doesn’t yet reflect this change, but Ars corroborates. -Thanks, Cyber Llama