Optus Australia today announced its rates for the new iPhone 3G, offering both pre-paid and traditional post-paid plans.

Despite being incredibly confusing, Optus has said that a pre-paid (pay as you use) iPhone will cost $729 for the 8GB and $849 for the 16GB. Pricing starts at $30 per “recharge” but without any data allowance. Data service inclusion starts at a $40 Turbo Cap recharge - the more you pay the more data allowance your given.

“Cap” plans start at $19/month with 100MB of internet data and “$50 of calls and text”. Prices go up from there, with the highest price priced at $179/month with 1GB of data and “$1500 of calls and text”.

If your not really following (I know it took me some time to catch on), your good with deciphering codes and you’ve got some time on your hands, you can check out the pre-paid details here & Capped Plan details here.

With both Optus and Telstra revealing their plans days apart we should be hearing Vodafone’s rates very soon.

written by Councillor Ben \\ tags: iPhone, Optus, Telstra

Yes, Telstra will begin selling the iPhone 3G on July 11, joining both Optus and Vodafone. Telstra is the first of the three to reveal any Australian pricing for the iPhone. While there’s no full details yet, Telstra has given us more information than we’ve seen from anyone else.

On a 24-month contract from $30, the 8G iPhone will be available for an upfront cost of $279, or $399 for the 16GB version. On plans above $80 a month, there’s no upfront charge for the phones. Still $80 a month means that you’ll be paying $2000 over the course of the contract.

Telstra has two obvious starter advantages in the marketplace: the extensive coverage of its Next G network, and the ability to offer free WiFi access in all its hotspots (which include McDonald’s and Starbucks outlets as well as Qantas lounges).

Time will tell how it compares to the other networks pricings…

[via LifeHacker]

written by Councillor Ben \\ tags: 3G, australia, iPhone, Telstra

How’s that for a post title? Kind of long I know, but I couldn’t help myself.

A Telstra senior exec in Australia has revealed that would-be iPhone users in his country are soon to be lucky ducks. Australians will have access to the fastest 3G iPhone when it is released sometime this June. Better yet, the iPhone could even be up and running on a super-fast 42mbps network just in time for the Christmas season.

In an interview with Channel News Australia, the aforementioned Telstra exec commented:

“We know what is coming we have seen the new device and it will be available on our network as soon as it is launched in the USA. By Xmas this phone will be capable of 42mbps which will make it faster than a lot of broadband offerings and the fastest iPhone on any network in the world…”

Way to go aussies! Our friends down under must be pumped about the impending release.

The next few weeks are going to be very interesting, with the proverbial s*it to hit the fan, or in this case, the new 3G iPhone to be announced as early as June 9th at the WWDC.

[via Channel News Australia]

written by Mr. Mayor \\ tags: 3G iPhone, iPhone Australia, Telstra