Jul 03

More iPhone Service Plans

The closer we get to the iPhone 3G release date, the better we can get an idea on the service prices all over the world, as new information keeps popping up. After we found out what's the cheapest iPhone 3G plan, as well as pricing for Canada, Sweden and Norway, now the time has come to hear about Switzerland, Netherlands, Denmark and Finland. Are you ready? Let's go!

Since I don't want to spoil the surprise of the best iPhone plan today, I'll start with Netherlands and Denmark, leaving Switzerland and Finland for later. Which one of those two has the cheapest iPhone 3G plan, that's what remains to be seen, but now...

...let's see what's in for those in Netherlands, first of all. T-Mobile, the local service provider for Apple's iPhone 3G, has come up with 3 plans, starting with a $48 one, including 150 minutes, 150 SMS messages and unlimited data. With it, you can get the 8GB iPhone for $127, or the 16GB model, for $254. The $71 plan gives you twice as more minutes and text messages, and the iPhones are priced at $1.58 and $127, for the 8GB and 16GB models, of course. The high-end plan is worth $103, offering the 8GB iPhone for the same price, the 16GB one for only $32, and including 500 minutes, 500 SMS messages and unlimited data.

In Denmark, Telia made things very simple, but also pretty expensive, having only one iPhone 3G plan, priced at $128. For this amount, you will get 300 minutes, unlimited SMS messages, unlimited calls to other Telia subscribers, and 300MB of data, and the 8GB iPhone 3G for $298, while the 16GB model comes for $426. Ouch! The "good" part is that, after six months, you can cancel the contract, and if you want to keep it, you will get a discount for the monthly fee, taking it down to $85. Still too much, in my opinion...way too much!

Now, the best plan today - Switzerland's Swisscom offers a $25 service plan, with the 8GB iPhone 3G coming for $245, and the 16GB one, for $343. For this price, you get only 100MB of data, and you should pay 68 cents for each hour of talk time. There are also two other plans available, for $34 and $54, all of the three ones available requiring a 24-month contract, and including visual voicemail and free access to over 1,100 hotspots across the country.

At last, we have Finland's Sonera, with plans starting at $50, up to $142. The low-end one includes 100 minutes, 100 SMS messages and 100 MB of data, and gives you the 8GB iPhone 3G for $250, and the 16GB one for $385, while the most expensive plan available comes with 1000 minutes, 1000 SMS messages, and 1000MB of data, and $1.58/$134 for the two iPhone 3G models.

These being said, we're one step closer to the iPhone 3G already...less than 9 days remaining!