AT&T prices up PAYG 3G iPhones AT&T will sell a contract-free 8GB 3G iPhone for $599 (£301) - exactly what the first version was priced at when it went on sale a year or so ago. The 16GB model will cost $699 (£351). Subsidised, the two models will set buyers back $199 and $299, respectively, but that price comes at the cost of a two-year airtime package. …
Other countries aren't getting it quite so cheap. Rogers in Canada has unveiled their pricing. First, you get to pay $199/8Gb and $299/16Gb for the iPhone. Then, you have to take one of their data plans, but you ALSO must have one of their voice plans. This drives the cost of the iPhone to over $100/month for most Canadians who want to use it. That's $1200 (600 quid) PER YEAR, minimum, and a compulsory 3 year contract. Oh, and all this is done in store, and you aren't allowed to leave the store until you've signed for and activated the phone with Rogers. (http://www.digitalhome.ca/content/view/2610/206/).
Yep, iPhone really is for those who have too much money to care.
I personally saw the update on the O2 website before it was pulled. Someone managed to salvage it from browser cache and publish a screenshot here: http://www.benfrain.com/notepad/uploaded_images/o2_payg-792328.gif
Of course, having been pulled there is every chance the pricing and features will change.
Personally, if they do offer the 8GB with 6-months data/wifi for £299.99 then I'll be first-in-line. The £10/month for on-going data/wifi is a steal compared to other PAYG pricing models.
Rogers in Canada also won't be allowing "unlimited" data, unlike AT&T. Their internal leaked memo was talking about the use of Rogers WiFi hotspots.
The actual mobile data plan ranges "from $60 per month for 150 daytime minutes with 400 MB of data usage, to $115 for a deluxe 800 minutes and 2 GB package." (Globe and Mail). That's right folks, a whole 400MB of data! Wow! Canadians are SO LUCKY! Note that Rogers then charges about $1 per kilobyte for going over their data limits.
I guess it's what Canada gets for being a member of the Commonwealth. Ripoff Britain seems to have extended its tentacles into Canada.
I saw the O2 PAYG web page last week during the limited time it was available, they looked to have launched a new look website and must have accidently updated the 'wrong' iPhone pages. £299 for 8GB and £359 for 16G phones were the price, plus Wi-Fi data plan free for first six months then £10 a month bolt on to any PAYG voice tariff, so effectively £20 a month for a fully functioning PAYG iPhone.
The PAYG pricing is just obnoxious here in the US. I can put as many minutes as I like on my battered Sony Ericsson phone for (somewhat more) reasonable rates (via AT&T's Go Phone plan). But it looks like I'd have to pay a $600 premium for the same privilege with an iPhone.
Dumb dumb dumb.
Oh well. Let the fools and their money be parted.
its hardly Apple's fault that Rogers pricing is so bad. That's what happens when there is a lack of competition. While I'm a big fan of unlimited data, its worth noting that my iPhone has only downloaded 600MB of data in 6 months! I'd consider myself a heavy user and use it for email and browsing on a daily basis.
Looking at everyones pricing, O2 seem pretty good.
First off, I'm neither Canadian nor am I affiliated with any phone service provider anywhere.
The problem in Canada is not a monopoly, but the rather disproportionate amount of country per customer. The whole of Canada has about the combined population of L.A. and NYC, with rather a bit more area to cover.
Obviously, mobile phone services don't extend very far into the wilderness, but even in the more densely populated corners a phone provider will have to install a rather large amount of hardware (same amount per square mile as anywhere else) to get full-area coverage -- for a much smaller customer base than in most other countries.
That's what is going to keep prices relatively high in Canada, whether there is a monopoly or not. Simple economics.
Now, if you want prices you can _really_ complain about, ask about data services in Namibia...
Mine's the one saying "No To Roaming Charges"
Ouch !
Sadly though it is a given the bulk of purchasers of the next gen model already have the gen one Iphoney's on existing yet to expire two year contracts , the ever gullible iFANS must truly have deep wallets, platinum credit cards and very small minds if they are so willing to keep on paying the the "Cupertino Pirates"
Oh well to each his own , but then again the smart ones who waited till the smoke and mirrors cleared will either be able to buy an old model online for a cent in the dollar and even recover the juicy data stored in flash memory or avoid the spy phone altogether , very sweet indeed !
Some people are just plain smarter then the dumb schmuck mob called ifans !
As Nelson and PH would say Ha ! Ha!
Apple said the 3G iPhone will be rolling out in some 70 countries over the coming few months, with 22 nations getting it on 11 July. Jobs promised that wherever you buy the 8GB model, you won't pay more than the equivalent of $199 (£101/€127)
So he forgot to mention the contract!!
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