Sarkle Original: We take a look at the iPhone 3G plans currently on offer from Optus, Telstra and Vodafone.

If you want an iPhone 3G, you’ll need to decide which mobile provider to sign up with. The iPhone is available from Optus, Telstra and Vodafone, and each provider has its own strengths and weaknesses. There’s a lot of detail to wade through, so here’s a primer to get you started.

The considerations

There are three main considerations when choosing an iPhone 3G: pre-paid vs. post-paid, data coverage and usage patterns.

Pre-paid vs. post-paid

If you can’t or won’t sign up for a 12 or 24 month contract to get your hands on an iPhone, then Optus is only provider open to you. An 8Gb iPhone will set you back $729; a 16Gb iPhone will cost you $849 up-front. As a bonus, you’ll be credited with $400 and 1Gb of data when you activate the handset.

Optus has a range of Turbo Caps on offer, starting from $30. The best value recharge value is $50, which includes $270 of additional credit that can be spent on voice calls and SMS messages, as well as a massive 500Mb of data. All credit expires after 30 days.

Assuming you recharge for $50 once per month, over 24 months the iPhone 3G 8Gb would cost $1929, while the iPhone 3G 16Gb would cost $2049.

Click here for Optus Pre-Paid Information

Data coverage

Part of the excitement of the iPhone is that you can use it to access the Internet, as well as your personal or company email.

If you live outside the major cities or spend a lot of your time in regional areas, and need access to data services – such as the Internet and email – then Telstra’s Next G Network is probably the best choice. While Optus offers regional data coverage at GSM (read: dial-up) speeds, Telstra’s Next G network gives you full broadband speeds no matter where you are.

The downside is that Telstra’s plans are – predictably – by far the most expensive. The iPhone 3G 8Gb costs $279 upfront on a $59 package, comprising $25 of call credit, $5 of data credit and a $29 Browsing Pack (more data credit); on the same $59 package the iPhone 3G 16Gb costs $399. Naturally the up-front cost drops depending on the selected plan. Call rates also drop as the package commitment increases: on the lowest $30 call package, voice calls cost $46c per 30 seconds, while on the highest $350 package the cost is 18c per 30 seconds.

You should also be aware that although Telstra’s data coverage is excellent, the company charges a premium for data access. The $29 Browsing Pack includes a measly 80Mb of data – that’s 36c per megabyte! However, Telstra does offer free unmetered WiFi access at hundreds of hot-spots across Australia, mostly in busy areas such as shopping centres, popular cafes, and airports.

Unfortunately once you exceed the packaged credit for calls or data, you’ll be charged standard rates. Unlike other providers, Telstra is not offering capped call plans for iPhone customers. Extra data is also very expensive at up to $1.00 per megabyte.

The best plan for you is going to depend on your usage patterns, something that is discussed in more detail in the following section. A good compromise plan would be a $119 package, comprising a $60 minimum spend - $50 for voice and $10 for data – and a $59 data package, with 200Mb of included data and extra usage charged at a slightly more reasonable 25c per megabyte. This also reduces the voice calling rate to 28c per 30 seconds. The up-front cost of the iPhone 3G on this package would be $59 for the 8Gb model and $179 for the 16Gb model, bringing the total cost over 24 months to $2915 and $3035 respectively, plus any excess usage. Telstra lets you choose one of five bonus options to sweeten the deal a little, although most will be of limited usefulness.

Click here for Telstra iPhone 3G Information

All that said, if you only journey into the country occasionally, you should consider choosing Optus as your carrier. While their GSM network is slow, it’s much more affordable – and you can probably put up with the slower speeds if you only venture outside the cities once in a while. If you don’t need data roaming at all, or are prepared to stick to voice calls when you’re in regional areas, then you might also consider Vodafone. Both Optus and Vodafone plans are discussed in the next section.

Usage patterns

Unless you have a need for the additional coverage provided by Telstra’s Next G Network, your choice of provider will probably boil down to a selection between Optus and Vodafone. Your choice will depend on your usage patterns. Both providers offer attractive plans, and while Optus’ caps are generally better value and often include larger data allowances, Vodafone’s call connection costs (flagfall) and excess data charges are cheaper. On the other hand, Vodafone charges an increased fee (90c per minute) when you make voice calls while roaming outside its own network (mostly in Victoria and Tasmania) and shuts off data access completely in many regional areas.

To give you an idea, here are two similarly priced plans from these providers:

Click here for Optus Post-Paid iPhone 3G Information

Click here for Vodafone iPhone 3G Information

Sarkle recommends

Here’s the bottom line: so long as you stick to Optus’ 3G areas in the cities most of the time, the Optus plans provide the best deal for the iPhone 3G: lots of credit, lots of mobile data for web browsing and email, and, depending on the plan chosen, a free or at least easily affordable handset. Plus, if you want to stick with pre-paid, currently Optus is the way to go.

Click here to go to the Optus iPhone 3G home page

It’s a great pity that 3 haven’t been able to convince Apple to let them sell the iPhone, because generally speaking 3’s call rates and data access plans are the most affordable. Hopefully Apple will correct this oversight sooner rather than later.

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