Vodafone has decided if it can't give us the iPhone for the holidays, it'll do the next best thing and spill details of its launch and pricing of Apple's finest. Available from January 14, the iPhone will be yours for £30 ($48) per month on two-year contracts, though up-front charges will set you back £239 ($386) for the 32GB 3GS variety. A monthly 1GB of 3G data is permitted, alongside unlimited WiFi, but what might be most interesting here is that Vodafone will allow you to use the iPhone as a modem. Such use will not be covered by your allowance of course, and will cost £5 ($8) for each 500MB downloaded, but we're happy to see a carrier offering the option. Furthermore, though Vodafone's agreement to carry the iPhone seemed
a rushed defensive move, the company now claims it has been
preparing its network for
over a year to handle the increased traffic it expects.
posted December 21st 2009 6:03AM
Well it's good to see they prepared the network as this phone has crippled O2's 3G network in central London.
@Fat Wombat
I'm glad to see it's not just me, I work just off Regent Street and I have to turn 3g off on my iPhone to be able to receive texts and calls during the day.
This is the main reason I won't be with o2 for my next contract.
@lookseehear Yep I had to turn off 3G as well. That sad part was I had a Nokia. But now I'm with Vodafone and all is well at the moment.
Holidays?
@Sean - they mean Christmas! (Unless they are actually going on holiday of course)
The modem is a good thing, not that i would get much use out of it. I also feel that this isnt a particularly good deal, 1gb of 3g data a month isnt a huge amount when on an iPhone
@Goretooth Yeah. I got unlimited data and a few hundred free calls/texts for 35 quid with o2. how is the Vodafone offer better? :/
@(Unverified)
If you only want to tether a bit, £5 for 500mb is better than o2's flat £15 a month charge.
good to see the rest of the world do what us Aussies have been since the iPhone 3G launch. ie multiple carriers (5! thats right 5 carriers), tethering, MMS (both since 3gs-With all carriers!) prepaid and unlocked iPhones (can be bought from Apple stores!) not so backward now are we (yes our data sux, but i don't know anyone who goes over 1gb a month anyway)
@cjono7 Well, All three of Singapore's telco are offering iPhone now, with 12Gb data per month. If you ever use more than 12Gb (!) the data bill is capped at SGD30 max.
Now if only Apple can remove the 10Mb per download limit from the iTunes Store... the rest of the world can handle it, unlike AT&T.
This is just a total rip off! Why charge ANYTHING for tethering when all they need do is include the data in the data plan anyway? What's the point of charging extra? When I used to be on Orange with a 2000/2001 model Nokia phone, I used the infra red port to connect my Powerbook to the web and the data charges were part of the calling plan. I didn't have to pay extra. Why are we complicating things when there is NO technical reason to differentiate between using the a phone to access the web or a laptop connected to the phone? It seems way more sensible to simply by a MiFi or similar WiFi 3G modem and and iPod Touch and make calls over VoIP than fall for these dodgy billing practices! As a Vodafone customer who was considering getting an iPhone, most disappointed in the lack of innovation here. And this opens up the opportunity for Google to do something paradigm shifting with their Android phone(s). Apple changes everything about phone usability with the iPhone. Well, it is now time for the air time providers to change or be forced into changed.
@Oflife Oops, typo: "...or be forced into change." (IE, the whole global air time billing system needs a massive revolution on the same scale as the user interface of the iPhone forced the hardware manufactureres to re-think the user interface of their devices.) Let's see if the Google NEXUS 1 kicks things off.
@Oflife They charge for tethering because they think they can get away with it. If Ofcom could be persuaded to shift its butt and rule this practice as being anti-consumer, it'd be a major step forward for telcom services in the UK.
@Oflife
Data charges included in 2000/2001?!? How much was your damn contract?!?!
"the iPhone will be yours for £30 ($48) per month on two-year contracts, though up-front charges will set you back £239 (£386) for the 32GB 3GS variety" typo for £239 --> $386
@EricChen Thank you.
O2 offers tethering in the UK, for the bargain price of an extra £15 a month; that is, not much different to the cost of a dedicated dongle from other networks with better coverage (and you get a dongle). So, Vodafone won't be the first.
@ptoboley I should check my facts. They've cut the price to £9.79 a month (presumably that's £10 once VAT goes back up); with a 3GB limit.
I have had tethering with my contract/phone for the last 6 years, why on earth are Vodaphone charging extra for it on an unlimited data plan ?
That is obviously why most right thinking people avoid Vodaphone.
@fourthletter
All the networks do on the iPhone. I use my WinMo phone on Vodafone and can tether by Wifi, Bluetooth, USB all for free..
I have the internet bolt-on[*] on my Vofafone contract
Have never paid for tethering with the bolt-on
Would be a riot if they tried
Though I "only" get the "standard" 500Meg/month
[*] which i get for free
Am so angry with Vodafone, having waited 2 years to get the iPhone on their network, that I am going to consider a completely different option. This is damaging for Apple too. Being that the Vodafone 3G USB dongle for £15 offers 5G a month, how did they arrive at £5 per month for 500MB? They may as well make our lives easier so we don't need to carry so many dongles, phones and other gadgets and let the phone be the modem. The telcos have no one to blame but themselves for what is about to strike them. Ironic that as Google become a competitor to Apple they may end up dragging Apple into the future paradigm of voice and data communications. And that's going to be good for us the end users! Am SO angry with Vodafone. Going to walk into our local store and berate the staff so they can pass my fury onto management. Phwa! Rant over.
@Oflife
This does seem ridiculous when you won't use any more bandwidth with your iPhone than you would with a dongle anyway. They should make it a little bit cheaper to use your phone than use a dongle, then they would sell more iPhones.
I've been tethering on O2 on every handset I've owned since the Sony Ericsson T68 and I haven't paid a penny extra for it. Anyone who pays for tethering or USB mobile network dongles is a sucker.
Orange also offer a 500MB tethering option, but it is a 18/24 month conttact only available at sign up.
http://shop.orange.co.uk/mobile-phones/iphone/iphone-extras.jsp
The carriers DO NOT SUBSIDISE. THEY SPREAD THE COST OVER A CONTRACT TERM.
The Iphone costs circa $600 - the consumer has to pay for that whether up front or over 18 or 24 months. There are better value phones out there but if you want the Iphone don't complain about the price - you are not forced to buy it.
iPhones are for posers.
@pencilmind
Wow, I knew some where aboard the "Bashing Apple makes you look cool" train here but I am seeing more and more its really bad here.
I think the iPhone is a very nice device and its great that the UK is getting more carriers for it. Something us here in the states can only be envyious of and hope will happen in 2010 with the issues with AT&T here.
And before people try to label me as a "fanboy" (or as people would probaily say "Fanboi" or something to that effect), I think its great there's a big pool of quality smartphones out there now and I also root for the Android platform. Like my father currently has a Samsung Instinct which he can't stand, and is looking to upgrade and is obviously on Sprint. I recommended the HTC Hero to him, I think he would be more than happy with it IMO. Only smartphone platform I hate: WinMo. I STILL think it sucks, and I have a company provided PDA I use on my Dell on-site repair job that I need to use to open and close repair tickets and call customers. I hate it because it does nothing but glitch up. It calls people at random, it turns off the phone function out of the blue, IE Mobile crashes like crazy, etc. Sad part is too, its a HTC phone, the HTC Mogul. It shows once they went Android, none of those issues are a problem anymore.
Its just I can't stand mindless bashing or fanboyism. I am happy with my iPhone and I think it works well, considering I own a Mac laptop. But I would be happy to own a Droid as well, but ironically, AT&T and Verizon both have almost as good coverage here in Cincinnati so I think ironically, this is one of the few cities where AT&T actually is semi-decent. But personally, I think the phone you get should matter on your area (due to coverage, as those on AT&T know all too well), what suits you, and what you want to use it for. I just don't see the need for constant bashing of a device, especially just for afew things or especally, just because its made by a certain corporation.
ITT: people getting charged extra for tethering and being happy about it
The article gives the impression that only Vodafone offers tethering in the UK. Both O2 and Orange offers tethering for the iPhone as well.
So fuckin' bullshit, $48 a month for 1GB of data....while here in Canada, we have to pay $80 a month for 1GB on a iphone plan...so bs. Hate this goddamn monopoly bullshit.
Who thought that carriers competition would force the price down?
The carriers do not want to enter into a price war over the Iphone - only Apple wins as Apple will not be dropping the price they charge for the phone to the carriers.
Just upgraded my girlfriend's contract on voda with a pre-order for the 3G for free @£35 a month. She didn't want to pay any more than that which is better than her existing contract which is fair enough, times are lean. The 16GB 3GS is £45 a month.
The only thing I'm worried about is that it won't be cutting much of the mustard in two years time, already it is behind (video?) by then how many iterations of the jesus phone will there be? And with the 3GS now starting to have apps/games that run better than the underpowered 3G I'm wondering if this is going to be something she regrets after the initial honeymoon period has died off.
no news on the iPhone being launched by Vodafone Qatar last week ? (or was it two weeks ago)
check out www.vodafone.com.qa
Vodafone here (.nz) have been allowing .. nay encouraging WiFi tethering via iPhone (and real smartphones) since their introduction err thats the 3G so thats what 18months ago.
Of course we're gouged on WiFi charges so I guess it makes perfect sense to encourage this data addiction.