Vodafone New Zealand's iPhone pricing taking a lot of heat

So we're getting the impression that there are a lot of Kiwis out there who think they're getting a raw deal from Vodafone on the iPhone 3G. That wouldn't totally surprise us -- they know when they've got an exclusive on a hot item, and they're going to try to milk it for everything it's worth -- but with the Rogers fallout rumors flying, Voda might want to tread lightly here.

Anyway, here's out it breaks down: on a maxed-out plan, you get a 16GB iPhone 3G for $349 and pay $250 a month, which nets you 600 anytime minutes, 600 texts, and 1GB of data. That works out to $264 for the phone and $189 for the plan in US currency, so you get a little bit of a break on the phone (AT&T charges $299), but in exchange, you get totally hosed beyond comprehension on the plan. Americans shelling out $149.99 will get unlimited voice, unlimited data, and unlimited texts, for which they'll gladly pay the $35 extra up front we'd imagine -- so yeah, by our voodoo calculations, that's about a raw a deal as any we've seen.

[Thanks to everyone who sent this in]