Confirming rumours from earlier this week, Virgin Mobile have revealed they are offering the iPhone, available right now. The iPhone is available on a number of plans, which could arguably be described as the best value so far (excluding the news below). For $70 per month, you will get $520 worth of calls and SMS as well as a huge 1GB of data. If you want to go crazy with data (tethering perhaps?), Virgin are also offering the same plan with 5GB of data for $100 per month. The 8GB model is free on both the $70 and $100 cap while the 16GB model has handset repayments of $4 per month on the $70 plan and is free on the $100 plan. Virgin are also offering the phone on all of their normal post paid plans with handset repayments varying. It is important to note though that these plans do not include data, and as of yet, it is not clear whether data packs can simply be added on as normal. Virgin supplied phones are tied to the Optus network and can be unlocked for $80, although there is no word if an outright or prepaid phone is available. Full details are available on their website. [Forum Discussion]


Meanwhile, the 'loser' in the iPhone race, Three, have decided to go ahead and offer iPhone plans and support anyway, even though they aren't selling the actual device. The plans represent fantastic value - provided you have an unlocked device in the first place. Their cheapest cap, $49, will buy you $320 worth of credit plus 1GB of data - by far the best value so far. Keep in mind, however, that an unlocked 8GB iPhone costs a minimum of $820 in the first place... With this, Three are also offering 'iPhone support' accompanied by the delusional claim that "Unfortunately this hasn't been possible, with users having to hack their phone's hardware to make the iPhone work on the network. Now, however, the company has provided the necessary support for the popular device in the form of a starter kit with 3G SIM." The starter kits will be available on August 4 at Three stores across Australia. Full details are available here. [Forum Discussion]


Last and perhaps still least, everyone's favourite telco; Telstra, have upgraded their data plans to be not as big of a rip off anymore.. The $10/month pack now includes 150MB of data, up from a measly 20MB while the $29/month pack now includes 300MB of data...yup, someone at Telstra can't do the maths, and those extra 150MB won't cost you an extra $10 as alluded to by the $10 plan, but rather an extra $19... Go figure... Excess data usage rates have also been reduced. Hopefully these changes will prevent existing users (to whom the upgrade is automatic) from getting into too much trouble... Full details. [Forum Discussion]