iPhone 3G S in Austria – decisions, decisions
T-Mobile Austria has finally announced this week how much they ‘ll be charging buyers of the new iPhone 3G S, almost a week after Orange posted their prices online. Thus the no. 2 and no. 3 placed among providers in Austria undoubtedly plan to increase their share in the mobile market, thanks to the iPhone.
Of course, you can ‘t directly compare the price of the iPhone between the two, simply because both providers offer different services with their packages. I suspect they do this on purpose, just to confuse the consumer. Sigh!
E.g. with T-mobile you can buy the 16GB iPhone 3G S for € 49, paying € 49 monthly for 3000 minutes, 3GB data and 1000 sms. The same unit at Orange costs € 69, paying € 33.50 monthly if choose the iPhone paket “ yet you have half the amount of call minutes compared to T-mobile.
I ‘ll leave the genuinely interested to investigate further, needless to say, in Austria your choice is based on whether you need to call people who have the same provider, who are in other European countries (there Orange has a very competitive edge at the moment) or if you really plan to surf with the phone or not.
To entice potential buyers both have special offers for online orders. T-mobile refunds € 49 back to your account, gives you a money-back guarantee AND will charge no monthly rate for the rest of 2009. Orange offers a € 40 web bonus and has a limited offer to halve your monthly fee, forever!
Especially fascinating to see is how the two deal with the 3.0 innovations of MMS and tethering. Both charge extra for MMS (btw already available, unlike their American counterpart) T-mobile by file size and Orange by destination (inside their network or outside). Interestingly, T-mobile customers pay nothing extra for tethering whereas Orange is charging € 2 a month for the same service.
On a special side note, T-mobile is still throwing the iPhone 3G 8GB at you for ZERO, zilch, nada “ you read right € 0 (too many still in stock?) whereas Orange has tiered pricing for the same unit starting at € 49. Hmmm.
What about current iPhone owners salivating for the new iPhone 3G S? The 16GB will cost you € 539 at T-mobile and € 500 at Orange. Nice of them to give us the chance but not worth it IMHO.
In general, this competition is having the welcome effect of driving prices down and bringing newer and better services for the eager consumer.
And on a personal note, my hubby has been swayed to order his white 16 GB via T-mobile, enticed by the prospect of paying nothing for the iPhone contract for six whole 6 months.
The iPhone 3G S will be officially available in Austria on 26 June 2009.
So international readers, what do you think of our choices for iPhone in Austria? Better, worse than where you are?
In NZ we would only dream of those prices… we eagerly wait the release of the 3GS to see how badly we will be ripped off. Our current top plan for an iPhone 3G is $349.00 (160 euro)for the phone and $130.00 (60 euro) a month for… wait for it… 250 anytime minutes, 600 text messages and a whole 500 MB of data. So we are basically paying twice as much for less than half the services.
Interesting. I couldn't afford to pay that much a month for my phone.
This is false information. The "no monthly fee" is only eligible to non-iPhone devices. Read the fine prints.
Hmmm. Interesting. This was confirmed to me by T-mobile on the phone. It IS possible that their reps were not entirely correct in their information. Will check tomorrow.
Just called T-mobile to make sure of my info and the rep confirmed that there is no monthly fee until 2010, also for the iPhone contract my husband took out last week.
I am traveling to Austria next month. Can I buy a T-Mob/ Orange I-phone.. I am not a resident/ citizen of austria. I am an Indian citizen.. would they give me the contract?
Good question. I doubt it because for the contract they require proof that you can actually pay the monthly rates. You have to count on bringing your passport and residence proof. They also test your credit rating (on your credit card).
You can always buy it officially without the contract but that would set you back at least € 500. Or buy one from a second hand shop, there are lots in Vienna.
Hope that helps.
Hi there Alicia…
My parents are currently in Wiena, and i want 3gs 16gb without contract.
I am from Serbia.
So, are you sure that they can buy 3gs without contract in orange for 500eurs ? Without any taxes or whatever?
And, whats the price of the 3gs 16gb in local stores?
Thank you very much,
Alex.
Hello Alicia,
I hate to ask random questions, but my Google-fu is weak today:
Do you know if Austrian-bought iPhones can be legally unlocked? My wife got a 3G from her Austrian relatives, and now we'd like to use it in the US. I've found out that in certain countries, you can unlock it after 6 months, or the end of the contract, but I haven't found info for Austria. I'd hate to do an illegal impermanent unlock if I can get it legally and permanently.
Thanks.
Hi, in Austria it's not possible to unlock the iPhone legally. But I believe the hardware allows unlocking anywhere in the world. Just not from an official source.