I’ve been hemming and hawing about doing this post since last week when AT&T revealed all the pricing info for the iPhone 3G. With the release of Vodafone NZ’s pricing today, I can no longer keep my mouth shut. The Kiwis are paying $190 for 1GB of data, 600 minutes, and 600 texts! Not to mention the fact that if they opt for the cheapest plan ($60), they’ll have to shell out $415 (8GB) or $527 (16GB), respectively. I really want to know what you people are bitching and moaning about over AT&T’s plans? As far as I can see, it’s cheaper than every other country that’s getting the iP3G in every respect. Of course, you might be hammered if you’re ineligible for an upgrade, but you should have known this was going to happen.
There are only a handful of countries that even offer an unlimited data plan: UK’s O2 along with German and Dutch T-Mobile. In all honesty, how many minutes do you really use? Have you forgotten that AT&T has rollover minutes? Seriously, what is your gripe? If you really want to bitch about pricing then move to Canada or New Zealand. Don’t you sit in an office where you’re e-mailing and IMing with folks for most of the day? Don’t you use the company phone? You might need the unlimited voice plan if the iPhone 3G will be your only means of telecommunication, but I find it hard to believe that anyone uses more than 1350 minutes. I currently have a plan with 600 minutes and I rarely come close to using half of them. Most of my calling is done when it’s free, anyway. I, for one, will gladly pay the extra $20 for unlimited texting.
I want to openly discuss what the issue is here in the US with AT&T. I honestly can’t see what you’re all so vehemently against AT&T. Check out this article from Ars Technica to get the quick and dirty on iP3G pricing across 20 countries. This, however, does not include voice/data plans.
Please discuss.
You don’t know why people bitch over AT&T’s pricing?
How about the fact that an iPhone plus unlimited web and e-mail costs 40% more than I pay at T-Mobile for similar BlackBerry service?
I was an AT&T customer for 2 years. They rape you for data, and their voice service has lots of random disconnects.
T-Mobile has very poor coverage. No one has T-Mobile in our area because of that fact. They also don’t have as good of service in the US as Verizon and AT&T. You are getting what you pay for. You pay less to have coverage in less places. Also the web on the iphone is a heck of a lot better than the web on the blackberry. Blackberry web browsers are very clumsy and unless you plan on just using it for an email phone… then it’s not really of much use other than texting. Blackberries are very difficult to hear on and as I said… they’re web sucks! Iphones on the other hand is the real deal web. You can access just about anything that you want to on the web. It also has a larger screen and then internet works faster on it than it does on the blackberries… So yes my friend, there are BIG differences in the price for BIG reasons. Duh!
I like the pricing. $70 aint a bad monthly bill 4 a IP3G
It’s only $69.99/month in name. After a $5/month (200 msgs) addition, taxes, “mandatory fees”, AT&T’s board of director’s parent’s blood money, … it ends up being nearly $90 / month for 450 minutes a month with spotty 3G coverage in most areas. Which means we’ll be using EDGE most of the time but pay for 3G.
Besides, they’re charging the same amount for phones that support MMS. iPhone doesn’t and we still have to pay the same amount. And you can’t tether it to your laptop for those occasional uses that iPhone just cannot do (ssh, sftp, …).
I don’t care what they charge for their other phones and whether it’s “the same they charge for all of their ’smartphones.’” iPhone is not just another phone and it’s not a “smartphone.”
AT&T is at it again, being like hungry dogs after their customer’s hard earned $. Shame on them. I won’t be upgrading to a 3G iPhone just because of the ridiculous and overpriced packages.
Oh, and need I mention that the value of US $ is actually at an all time low. It’s lower than the Canadian dollar for Pete’s sakes! That’s why it seems that other countries are going to pay thought the nose for their plans. What you need to also consider is their pay level and whether taxes, mandatory fees, blood money, etc are applied to the sales prices.
I’m pretty sure that we in the UK have the best deal, apart from the 18 month contract. US has it better for the lowest tariffs UK: $59, US: $70) but if you look at the equivalent price tariff in the UK, the $70 price plan gives us 600 minutes talk time, 500 texts and unlimited data. Also, we have almost 99 percent 3G coverage here. I know there’s not a huge amount in it, but it is better, I think. Now I’ve just got to try and get hold of one.
Did you know Kiwi dollars aren’t worth the same as US dollars? Are you making the right comparison?
I converted all the pricing to USD.
It’s CRAZY that AT&T is charging existing customers $399 for (8GB Iphone) or $499 for (16 GB Iphone) if they are not eligible for an upgrade. What kind of loyalty does that show to existing customers? I don’t think existing customers would have any problem extending their contracts another 2 years.
I might consider getting out of my contract for $175 and then buying the $199 Iphone and pay the new customer fees which I believe are $30 some dolllars. It would be cheaper than buying the $499 Iphone.
or
I might pay the $175 to get out of the contract and then switch to Verizon and get their top of the line phone for a lot less than I would pay at AT&T.
AT&T should make new customers pay the extra $200 not current customers that they have never had a problem with.
I’m just glad that I read Appleinsider as soon as the pricing came out. I got a AT&T customer representative to agree with me that that would be crazy to charge existing customers and he was nice enough to place a note on my account that said he quoted me $299 for the 16 GB Iphone.
We will see on Friday if AT&T will keep their word?
The reason they’re charging people that kind of money for an upgrade if they don’t have one is because… hello! you’re not available for an upgrade. If they let you have an upgrade every six months when the new phones come out, don’t you think they would lose money? They would be in the same hole as Sprint is in. I don’t care what company you think has the better perks, they all charge early termination fees… they all have spotty service… they all charge their existing customers more if they’re not available for an upgrade. Gripe all you want… It’s not going to do you any good. All the cell companies are like that.
You people are griping about spotty 3G territory, but the freaking technology has just come out. It takes months to upgrade towers. (Former AT&T employee!) And by the way… AT&T has the most towers out there. So why are you griping? At least you’re getting coverage. The other companies that offer similar 3G service have even more spotty territory.
Also AT&T brings in a ton of new customers all the time. If they offered phones at a more expensive rate than the competitors then how would they be ever expanding their network? They have to have competitive pricing for the new people. Duh!
Hard to justify the prices since I have Sprint SERO. Sure, no iPhone, but if we’re talking strictly pricing it’s really hard to justify for me (and yes – it’s grandfathered in). Just waiting on the new HTC devices to arrive for sprint :)
Jeff — How did you convince an AT&T rep to quote you the $299 price. I’m so angry right now for the exact same reason. I see no logic in charging a longtime customer (I was with Cingular previously) extra just because I happened to upgrade a year ago. They get me for another two years and I’m a longtime customer. Where’s the reward for loyalty?
Well Chris, they gave you a good deal on your phone a year ago. Just because you’re too impatient to wait for your next upgrade… does not mean that should make any kind of consideration for you. Any other cell phone company will you do the same way. Be patient and wait for your upgrade. Those phones (with some exceptions) are built to last about 2 years.
I just upgraded my iphone to a 3g after being told my plan would stay the same. Today I got the first bill! I am now being charged $35 for what I got last month (and the last 12+ months) for $20. I called AT&T and the rep. told me the old plan is no longer available for the new 3g. Really? It seems the sales rep. that I talked to (at an actual AT&T store) hadn’t got the notice. I plan to take immediate action! This is absurd.
Yes, when you upgrade… it changes your plan automatically. Sales reps go through training, but they are not informed of everything that the company does. You can plan to take action, but unless you plan on going back to the plan and phone you had before within 30 days of your upgrade, then you’re stuck in your situation. You should of read that paper that they have you sign. Duh!
What is this crap that AT&T is trying to feed us about how they support local communities, create jobs, blah,blah,blah!! I worked for them for a year in Redmond, Washington and the pigs decided to send all the jobs to Brazil where they didn’t have to pay decent wages. Don’t believe them when they say they support the American economy, it’s a lie !! They are only interested in their profit margin