Scant hours before Apple’s latest hyped handset is slated to go on sale at midnight tonight in Australia, Optus subsidiary Virgin Mobile has released its pricing for the device.
The picture above is of Virgin chief Richard Branson in Sydney this week for a Virgin Money launch — holding an iPhone 4.
Virgin will offer Australian customers the iPhone 4 on either its Easy Caps plans — which focus on providing voice and text value — including “unlimited” mobile talk and text to other Virgin customers, as well as its Smart Caps plans, which focus on data usage.
The mobile telco’s entry-level Easy Caps plan costs $29 per month and comes with 100MB of data and $190 of included value, with the 16GB iPhone 4 to cost customers a total of $15 extra per month on top, and the 32GB model to cost $35 per month extra on top — all on a 24 month plan.
The top Easy Caps plan costs $49 per month and comes with 500MB of data and $450 of credit. The 16GB iPhone 4 will cost customers $5 extra per month on this plan, or $20 for the 32GB model.
In turn, Virgin’s Smart Caps plans start at $39 per month — with that plan offering 1.5GB of data and $190 of included credit. The 16GB iPhone 4 will cost an extra $15 per month on top — or $25 per month for a 32GB model.
The highest Smart Cap plan from Virgin will cost customers $59 a month and come with 2.5GB of data and $450 of included call credit. On this plan customers will pay nothing extra for the 16GB iPhone 4, but they will pay an extra $18 per month on top for the 32GB model.
Comparatively, Australia’s other telcos have released plans that range through the full spectrum of pricing — all the way up to $99, for example, on Vodafone or Telstra — while Virgin appears to have attempted to keep its plans at the lower-priced end of the spectrum.
Image credit: Virgin Mobile
Nicest plans I have see. The $59 smartcap is the tastiest yet!
Lets hope that 3 and T-mobile don’t face the same problems that Apple iOS has caused other UK consumers and their recently reported roaming costs.
It is another setback once again for Apple it will be interesting to see what’s next in the news regarding iPhone issues (antenna, manufacturing and now service charges) and their
Apples steps to refund cases won’t make up for the iPhone 4’s lack of function over form.
It’s a shame to see so many issues with the iPhone 4 after so many people waited for it’s release. What’s more of a shame is that it seems Apple knew about some of these issues already, such as the problem with reception.
But Apple have created such a loyal following that people may just put up with what issues there are for the sake of owning the latest Apple product.
Personally, I’d be happier with an older iPhone – at least then the issues are all ironed out.
However, it’s also interesting to see how much excitement new technologies can bring. New technology and innovation is important for new business, illustrated by entrepreneurship grants and new business competitions like http://www.ukesnc.com.
Guess it’s not all bad!
With these limited data plans, you can use the DataMan app to monitor your data use in real time. This useful app monitors your cellular and Wi-Fi data usage in the background, keeping a log of your activities. What’s more, it geotags your data activities. To help manage your data consumption, you’ll receive real-time alerts when you exceed your usage thresholds. There are 4 levels of alert thresholds that you can customize to your needs to prevent additional charges to your bill. You can find DataMan in the App Store.
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