Vodafone follows Optus into $0 iPhone zone

Stan Beer
Monday, 06 April 2009 10:54

Opinion and Analysis

Vodafone has finally bitten the bullet and followed rival Optus with $0 upfront plans for the 8GB iPhone on 2 year contracts. The $69 and $79 plans offer reasonable data allowances but do they really threaten what Optus already has out there?

For the record, Telstra also offers $0 upfront iPhone plans but its pricing structure and the infinitesimal data allowances puts it out of the race.

The entry level Vodafone $69 plan for the 8GB iPhone includes 250MB of data and $340 of credit toward the other stuff.

Under the Vodafone $79 plan, you get 400MB of data and $550 of credit for voice and texting.

Although the deals seem quite reasonable, there are a couple of problems.

The first problem for Vodafone is that the Optus plans already appear to offer more, both in terms of data allowance and range of options.

The Optus $79 plan for instance gives users the same $0 upfront 8GB iPhone with $550 credit for voice and text but a superior 700MB data allowance.

Optus also has $59 plan which charges just $3 a month for the 8GB iPhone, which gives $350 credit for non-data use and 500MB of included data - making it cheaper with greater allowances than the Vodafone $69 plan.

The other hitch for Vodafone is the timing of this announcement. It's very late in the product lifecycle to be offering $0 upfront plans on 24 month contracts for the entry level 8GB iPhone.

Optus has had $0 iPhones out on the market since last July. Upgrades to the iPhone models are imminent.

So the questions for prospective Vodafone iPhone users will be why would I commit to a 24 month plan now for an 8GB iPhone when new models are around the corner; and why should I pay the same or more for less than what I can get from Optus?