Are you interested in an interest-free way to pay for a shiny new expensive smartphone over the course of anywhere from 6 to 36 months?

Then Vodafone’s new deal may be one you’ll want to deal into.

Ben McIntosh, Director of Sales at Vodafone said: “We are big believers that consumers should have more choice when it comes to buying smartphones.

“Vodafone is committed to putting our most popular smartphones within reach of customers.

“With many popular smartphones costing more than $1000 when purchasing outright, we believe many customers will welcome the choice to spread the cost of their new phone over a period of time rather than upfront,” he said.

McIntosh noted that, contrary to popular belief, ‘researched showed only one in every ten consumers wanted to upgrade their phone every year.’

He then said: “Our research shows that consumer upgrading behaviour differs greatly. Less than 10 per cent of consumers upgrade their phone every year, while one in two Australians will wait two to three years to upgrade.

“This is about making things simple for customers and giving them the flexibility to choose the plans that best suit their needs and budgets.

“More and more Vodafone customers are enjoying the freedom of month-to-month SIM Only plans so it made sense to also offer flexible payment options to complement these plans.”

The news follows the company’s recent launch of what is says is ‘Australia’s most affordable 20GB data smartphone plan.’ 

Here’s a Vodafone support page I found with some more detail on MPP at Voda - although it appears to be a little older as it doesn’t offer a 36 month option - but still useful.

Vodafone has also included some additional ‘notes to the editor’ which are all worth republishing here, so we’ll do just that.

The telco says, as noted above, that ‘monthly instalment plans (MPP) must be taken with a Month to Month SIM Only plan.’

We also learn that the ‘Minimum commitment fee is MPP x instalment period + 1 month SIM-Only, and that the monthly instalment plans are available in-store and via phone.

So let’s say you want to buy the iPhone 6s 16GB model. Vodafone says its RRP is ‘$1080’.

A monthly instalment payment plan or (MPP) of 6 months would cost $180 per month.

For 12 months - $90 per month.

18 months is $60 per month, 24 months is $45 per month and 36 months is $30 per month.

If you cancel your plan, or move to a non-eligible plan, your next bill will seek the rest of the payments outstanding on the phone.

You can also only add one smartphone per MPP service.

Vodafone also reminded us of some research it had done via Galaxy back in July 2014, sampling 1000 people nationally.

• One in four (25%) of Australians upgrade their smartphone every 18 months or more frequently. This increases to 41% of 18-24 year olds.
• Frequent (18 months or more frequently) upgrades of smartphones declines with age:
• o 38% Generation Y
• o 21% Generation X
• o 16% ages 50+ years
• 29% of NSW residents upgrade their smartphone every 18 months or more frequently, compared to 25% in Queensland and South Australia, 24% in Victoria and 15% in Western Australia.
• Half (49%) of Australians upgrade their smartphone about every 2-3 years
• 15% upgrade their phone only when it is lost or broken

Reasons for upgrade

• 40% of Australians upgrade for image reasons when their phone looks outdated or gets scratched/damaged
• One in three (35%) will upgrade their smartphone when the mobile phone contract expires and they get a new phone with the next contract

What new smartphone features are the most attractive:

• For Australians, the most attractive features of a smartphone are that it is easy to use/navigate/good functionality (62%)
• A high quality camera is always popular (57%)
• A large screen (48%) is also a significant driver of appeal
• 45% large storage capacity
• 42% 4G connectivity
• 41% the size of the device
• 36% Stylish/looks good (50% among those who upgrade every 6 months/buy latest model)
• 29% Able to run several applications at one time
• 26% sound capabilities
• 16% video calling
• 6% ability to show 3D (26% among those who upgrade every 6 months/buy latest model)

iPhone 6s and 6s Plus are available to pre-order from 5.01pm today, 12 September 2015. Both models will be officially available from 25 September, 2015.