Apple iPhone - Everything you need to know about the Australian iPhone

Telstra reveals iPhone 3G pricing

Telstra finally revealed its full iPhone 3G pricing this morning, with a full gamut of plans ranging from $30 to $350 per month.

Those looking to receive an iPhone on the cheaper plans will need to pay an upfront cost, according to marketing material issued by the telco. In addition to the phone plan, Telstra will charge a further cost for "browsing packs", which give the user additional data allowances.

Those looking to purchase a 16GB 3G iPhone on Telstra's most expensive $350 dollar plan with Telstra's largest 3GB browsing pack could expect to pay $11,256 over 24 months. It is unclear from Telstra's marketing material whether this price includes GST.

Telstra 8GB and 16GB iPhone 3G upfront costs

iPhone Type
$30 iPhone plan
$40 iPhone plan
$60 iPhone plan
$80 iPhone plan
$100-$350 iPhone plan
8GB $279 $169 $59 $0 $0
16GB $399 $289 $179 $68 $0

Telstra's iPhone 3G pricing plan 8GB

Minimum monthly spend
Monthly included voice/text
Included data value*
Minimum total cost (24 months)
$30 $25 $5 $999
$40 $35 $5 $1,129
$60 $50 $10 $1,499
$80 $70 $10 $1,920
$100 $90 $10 $2,400
$150 $135 $15 $3,600
$250 $235 $15 $6,000
$350 $335 $15 $8,400

Telstra's iPhone 3G pricing plan 16GB

Minimum monthly spend
Monthly included voice/text
Included data value*
Minimum total cost (24 months)
$30 $25 $5 $1,119
$40 $35 $5 $1,249
$60 $50 $10 $1,619
$80 $70 $10 $1,989
$100 $90 $10 $2,400
$150 $135 $15 $3,600
$250 $235 $15 $6,000
$350 $335 $15 $8,400

* = Pricing for 8GB and 16GB iPhones on plans above $100 dollars are identical. It is also unclear from Telstra's marketing material how much data is included in the $5-15 dollar allowance without a "browsing pack".

Telstra's "Browsing Pack" costs

Monthly fee
Monthly allowance
Additional usage costs
$5 5MB $1 per MB
$10 20MB $1 per MB
$29 80MB $1 per MB
$59 200MB 25 cents per MB
$89 1GB 25 cents per MB
$119 3GB 25 cents per MB

When ZDNet.com.au's sister site, CNET.com.au analysed all the iPhone 3G pricing, they concluded that Optus would appeal to shoppers looking for the cheapest price over the life of their contract, while Vodaphone would appeal to those looking for big data allowances.

For more iPhone information, see our launch centre.

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Talkback 26 comments

  1. Crooks Anonymous -- 11/07/08

    Telstra are total and utter crooks. Just don't go with Telstra. Unlock.....There are goign to be people out there in a month from now who are going to get data bills for thousands of dollars. PLease ACCC step in and control these bandits...

    1. And your boss isn't? Joe -- 11/07/08

      He Anonymous, is what you are telling us is that your Optus or Vodaphone boss is not a crook. Face facts, anyone that chooses a plan and exceeds the usage allowances with get hit by huge bills so stop pretending Telstra is doing anything different to the others or that could be considered uncompetitive.

    2. The difference between the various iPhone plans Anonymous -- 11/07/08

      The difference is that Telstra's plans suck. :)

    3. You serious? Darts -- 11/07/08

      I'm currently with Optus and hate dealing with them. I can't believe what a rip off Telstra's data plans are. Such a shame. Optus data rates are much better. Please give us better value Telstra.

  2. Telstra Anonymous -- 11/07/08

    waits for sydney and co to defend prices..... :)

    Seriously why the high price for data? is this what we can expect if/when telstra build the new broadband network.

    1. "Welcome to NextG, now bend over" James Bell -- 11/07/08

      I doubt you'll get any comments from them as Telstra's iPhone pricing is a complete and utter embarrassment. Even those who use the "superior coverage and speed" line to convince themselves they're not being ripped off wouldn't be able to justify it with these plans.

    2. Happy to bend over John -- 12/07/08

      As long as I can use it where I want to and not only in the major cities.

    3. Enjoy using it barbara -- 12/07/08

      Hope you enjoy downloading your 1 iTunes mp3 each month

    4. I will Anonymous -- 12/07/08

      At least here in in Yass I can download a tune with Telstra.

      If I buy one of these things, which I have no plans to, I would go on a larger download plan.

      I am happy to pay for a service I can actually use where I live. Let me guess barbara, you live somewhere like St Kilda, are too afraid to drive on an unsealed road in you gas guzzling 4WD, are happy to pay $800 for a prada handbag but then complain about a $30 per month price difference between carriers without considering what other people they support and provide services to around the country.

      IMAGE IS EVERYTHING, REALITY IS SIMPLY AN ANNOYANCE.

    5. T Anonymous -- 12/07/08

      Try living in tassie where Telstra has tassie by the balls....

    6. Re Telstra has Tassie by the balls Anonymous -- 12/07/08

      Telstra DOES NOT have Tassie by the balls it's just that the other carriers are to slack to put enough towers in for good coverage. Telstra are the only carrier willing to provide us with good coverage and should be applauded

    7. Re Telstra has Tassie by the balls Anonymous -- 12/07/08

      If they themselves where more reasonable (with everthing...) I would applaud them but they dont make it easy for us to like em. A plan such as mentionend below $30-$50 for 1gig with shaping instead of excess charges.....

      But nooo they take the **** and charge a truckload :( ACA stories about $1000 iphone bills coming soon...

    8. Re Telstra has Tassie by the balls Anonymous -- 12/07/08

      Yes they provide us with partially government funded coverage and then charge us a small fortune for the privilege to use it. I applaud you Telstra.

    9. One uniform price Australia wide It's easy to hide my name -- 12/07/08

      Telstra charges the same price across the country and will deliver a service pretty much anywhere. fixed voice for everyone, mobile to 99% and minimum 256kbps internet access to 100% via ADSL, cable or satellite.

      There is no other company in the country that does not discriminate based on location, every other company actively avoids parts of the country and refuses to deliver services as it is not cost effective.

      Singtel own a fiber connection from Vic to Tas and have been paid $5M a year by the Tas government for the past 3 years to get it us and running and guess what ........ IT IS STILL NOT UP AND RUNNING!!!

      Telstra delivers a service regardless of price, Singtel work to contract and lock up orginisations based on promises and then sits on the money while waiting for their bluff to be called (aka Opel)

    10. RE One uniform price Australia wide Anonymous -- 12/07/08

      You like excess charges and low data limits?
      About 100meg is enough for everyone :).....

      Oh and its more the tas goverment fault for sitting on there **** doing nothing about it.

    11. Yeah sure It's easy to hide my name -- 12/07/08

      I could offer dirt cheap prices and massive usage allowances if I cherry picked the high margin areas and ignored the areas that it was harder or more costly to deliver to. I look forward to Optus expanding their network coverage as they will then realise that in some areas a base station may not carry any mobile traffic for days on end and is there to keep continuous coverage.

      If they partnered with Telstra and there were delays it would be Telstra's fault.

      For all of Telstra's competitors all delays and problems will never be THEIR fault!!!!

    12. prices Anonymous -- 14/07/08

      Not asking for massive usage allowences, Just want something more reasonable. That too much to ask?

  3. Telstra - get real! Anonymous -- 11/07/08

    It's no wonder the Telstra brand suffers and customers become upset with Telstra. Their data charges suck badly! Mr CEO - if you think people interpret your data plans as "VALUE" then think again - because it's most certainly not. If Telstra had a $29 / 1Gb / month plan for an iphone, there would be users signing up in droves - I would even pay for the extra coverage of Next G network in comparison to other carriers - but not 3 and 4 times the price. Maybe an additional $10 or even $20 per month could be justified.

    Seriously, I can't even put my Bigpond Broadband USIM into the iphone and use it's plan - it's not allowed. Nor can I use any phone I wish on a Bigpond data plan.... compared to the now $15 per month 1Gb 3 mobile data plans - Telstra are somewhere outside of this galaxy.

    Telstra get your data plans in order or you will be loosing all your metro customers FAST - myself included.

    1. Please Telstra Anonymous -- 13/07/08

      Just drop the data rip off before even your loyal customer start to leave you.

  4. Reality Check Anonymous -- 14/07/08

    If you dont want Telstra's services dont buy it. If you dont like what's on offer for the iPhone dont buy it either. Its only a gadget not life threatning if you dont have one, or cant afford to use it. Why dont some people get a reality check, you have a choice use it and pay or dont use it. The sun will still rise in the morning

    1. Of course people are going to comment! Anonymous -- 14/07/08

      This is an article on Telstra's iphone pricing and considering the pricing is horrendous obviously people are going to comment. Many were expecting Telstra's pricing to be a bit more than Optus or Voda given their larger coverage in the bush, but the pricing announced on Friday, when people were already queuing up is pure exploitation.

    2. Inaccurate and deceptive, do you expect anything else? Anonymous -- 14/07/08

      "but the pricing announced on Friday, when people were already queuing up is pure exploitation."

      June 30 Telstra announced they will be supplying the iPhone and also announced a small number of plans.

      July 10 Telstra releases full iPhone plan prices

      In both cases anyone could have gone to telstra.com and looked up the plan costs for applicable to all devices, the only unknown would have been the subsidy level for the iPhone handset.

      Dates are based on news stories published on this site so they may have announced them even earlier. ZDNet are not mind readers and I doubt they would have published these stories without checking their facts. Actually come to think about it, some reporters at ZDNet have been known to publish inaccurate and flawed news stories (especially blogs) before.

    3. July 10 was a leak James Bell -- 15/07/08

      The prices available on July 10 were leaks. They were not officially launched or available in detail on Telstra's website until the day of launch (July 11)

    4. Telstra has transparent pricing Only leak is James' credibility -- 15/07/08

      The one thing about Telstra's pricing is that they are device independent, anyone can go an look up the data plans online and know what they are going to pay regardless of device, anyone can look up voice pricing online and know what plan to go on. The only variable would have been the actual device price depending on which plan you go on. It is pretty funny that on June 30th this site wrote "The Next G iPhone 3G plans start at AU$30 per month with an upfront cost of AU$279 for the 8GB model and AU$399 for the 16GB model, although the 8GB model is free on AU$80 plans and the 16GB model is free on AU$100 plans. All plans require a 24-month contract.". At no stage did they say we suspect, we think or we have inside information. The way this was written it provided a perception of fact, this either means that 11 days before launch ZDNet had been supplied with some pricing or they were misleading the public. Your call to decide which one.

  5. $399 Anonymous -- 22/07/08

    Our Dollar is nearly the same as the US. so how come Optus is selling the Prepiad for over $800.00. As far as Data Hong Kong Has free wireless. Australian Telco's are ripping us off $11K to 12K over two years. No wonder young People cant afford there first home. This Sucks.......

  6. Get the HTC Touch Diamond Instead BChau -- 09/08/08

    I have just renewed my contract with Telstra on the $80 dollar plan and they gave me the HTC Touch Diamond which in my opinion is a much better, sexier phone. I also took up the $10 data plan which adds an additional 150 MB data pack. I do agree that the data rate of Telstra is very expensive. Price for data pack needs to come down.

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