[drzeus]

Ha ha those pictures just tell the story SOOO well..

Telstra I'm not surprised by, but Vodafone shot themselves in the foot with a bazooka with the prices they released!

[Angsty]

I wonder if there are any numbers yet on how many people switched from Telstra to Optus

What is the % split between carriers...

Then we can have some ammunition to lob at un-competitive plans by carriers...

EDIT: On the other hand - I see Telstra as focussing on the business market segment - where they don't have to discount as companies pay for the service for their staff, so for them, the thought process might be: why bother discounting as this segment will pay for the iPhone at this price point anyway...

[camson]

However.. I went past the Telstra T-Life store line in Melb on Fri morning, my mate wanted to buy one outright. There were HUNDREDS of people in that line. So despite the horrendous pricing, people were still willing to pay. The usual Telstra customer Ignorance possibly?

Most were annoyed they couldn't get it on a cap plan tho when the prices came out. As in, when the guy came along the line handing out the officially announced prices.

Vodafone, which was directly opposite had 5 or 6 people lined up and plenty of stock, but nobody was there. I think the same people who'd go with Voda were all switching to Optus (like me).

[Reubania]

Despite the revenue raised by either telco, the main thing about this exercise in marketing - is forging ahed with the brand name.

At this point, all the "glowing" expectations from Vodafone customers before the July 11 launch date about their possible "killer" competitive prices have all but dissipated. The one that has stayed in the news has been Apple and Optus. Optus definitely have been Apple's preferred telco and it shows with the number of signups on Optus.

I am positive the switcher ratios/percentages will be splashed over the business news in the upcoming weeks. It would be interesting to see how much of the market share Optus has managed to wrestle out of Telstra, Vodafone, 3 and Virgin because of their far more competitive, value-for-money prices.

[Phase]

The most damning thing in my eyes is that people like me waited in line at Optus for 14 long hours for the phone, and could've walked 100 meters, and picked one up from Vodafone instantly.

That is how huge the plan gaps are.

[abure]

There is a good reason why i only went for a 12 month contract. I reckon for the next iphone, telstra will actually pay attention to how many people cancel their contracts or leave all together. then i will go back to them (maybe).

[Phase]

Watch what Optus do to hold their customers.

It'll be like a black bear defending it's (contract bound) cub.

[laprius]

Originally Posted by Phase

The most damning thing in my eyes is that people like me waited in line at Optus for 14 long hours for the phone, and could've walked 100 meters, and picked one up from Vodafone instantly.

That is how huge the plan gaps are.

Incredible isn't it...you would think that the warning signs were evident for Voda as soon as they put the plans out...it was a golden opportunity for them to reconsider when they pulled them...well joke's on them now! :S

Their store still only says that the black iPhone is now out of stock...could that mean they have white iPhones sitting there waiting for a home?

[Atomic]

10 bucks both Telstra and Vodafone release revised plans within a month.

[Reubania]

Both Telstra and Vodafone had the best position - when Optus finally released their full plans a week early.

BUT it gave all the potential consumers ample amount of time to pour over every possible plan scenario.


I remember when Telstra released their "guide" everyone (including myself) was going to jump ship...especially with FREE wifi hotspots...and a reasonably priced upfront fee for both iPhone models.

[Phase]

Originally Posted by Reubania

I remember when Telstra released their "guide" everyone (including myself) was going to jump ship...especially with FREE wifi hotspots...and a reasonably priced upfront fee for both iPhone models.

I agree, I remember drinking with some friends saying Telstra would have to screw up massively for me to not go with them.

And there you go.

If Telstra had even offered half the data of Optus they'd have been in with a fighting chance.

What's hilarious of course is 'Come join us on Australia's best 3G network, now here's 5Mb of data, don't spend it all at once'

[Reubania]

Ha ha ha ha! So fitting! One email with a few photo attachments will eat that up in one go!

It's unbelievable, having the best network/data coverage, and you make your customers BLEED their money for the privilege.

[reemixx]

I reckon a lot of folks went with Telstra simply because of coverage, and Telstra predicted that so they didn't have to be the 'best'. A lot of people would pay more for that, particularly business users or those who travel a lot. But poor Vodafone....

lol. Well not really 'poor' Vodafone because I really don't feel sorry for them at all. I waited 'til they released their prices and was prepared to wait 'til well after the launch just to make sure I was signing up with the best telco on the best plan for me. But they had all this time to do something great, and I had faith in them that they would. Epic fail for Vodafone.

Needless to say, I went straight to Optus the next day and signed up. Goodbye Vodafone, your regular prepaid is awesome but your iPhone plans are worse than ridiculous. :P

[nils]

Originally Posted by Angsty

EDIT: On the other hand - I see Telstra as focussing on the business market segment - where they don't have to discount as companies pay for the service for their staff, so for them, the thought process might be: why bother discounting as this segment will pay for the iPhone at this price point anyway...

The main reason business will stick with Telstra is that their 3G / Next G network is much faster than Optus / Vodafone.

Telstra's Next G has higher achievable download and upload speeds. A max of 14.4Mbps download, and 1.9Mbps upload.

AFAIK Optus 3G is a max of 3.6Mbps, with 384kbps on upload.

Telstra have a premium product and business is prepared to pay for it.

[watters]

Originally Posted by Erwin

Great idea - if only.

I think this is what's going to happen. All the new iPhone stock primarily goes to
1. Apple Store Sydney
2. Optus Stores
3. Whichever of Telstra/Vodafone sells more

[Jizo]

I would have stuck with Voda on the $69 cap if they hadn't had charged an upfront cost, but over $300 where Optus is giving me more for cheaper, well, bye bye Voda. I don't care if you revise your plans to be better, you screwed up big time with me, especially as the staff at your store were so rude before launch.

Optus are the king at this point, and they were technically at a disadvantage releasing plans a week early - that turned out to work in their favour.

[laprius]

Seems the Apple store is yet to run out! big queues today for Optus still! had two mates wait four hours each for their phones today

[Barcode]

I love the optus plans!

i always hated optus... but they GOT this phone. They understood what it was, and what the idea of it was... and I am shocked by how little data i've used so far on my little counter in settings... i need to start using more!

I must say, give a hand to Optus!

[adam89]

Originally Posted by nils

The main reason business will stick with Telstra is that their 3G / Next G network is much faster than Optus / Vodafone.

Telstra's Next G has higher achievable download and upload speeds. A max of 14.4Mbps download, and 1.9Mbps upload.

AFAIK Optus 3G is a max of 3.6Mbps, with 384kbps on upload.

Telstra have a premium product and business is prepared to pay for it.

The iPhone's chip can only go upto 7.2Mbps, but apparently it is capped at 1.4Mbps anyways to save battery power...

[Barcode]

Its not capped at 1.4, as I have reached 3.0 on the iPhone with an iPhone speed testing site.