what happened to the $29 vodafone cap. It was on the vodafone site last Friday, now it's not offered. Any ideas?

If you haven't yet seen it, there is an interesting discussion over on Lifehacker about converting voice credit to data credit on Vodafone plans. If this is true you could get over 2.5 GB of data on a $69 plan.

See:

Untangling Vodafone's iPhone data charges | Lifehacker Australia

Has everyone noticed the totally crappy amount of data offered on Telstra's iPhone plans?? Most are offered with a $29 'browsing pack' which only includes 107mb of data!!! While Optus/Vodafone etc are offering 500mb or more on equivelantly priced plans.

I called Telstra to clarify this and I was told by the consultant that the current browsing packages offered are the existing ones thay had for previous phones and that they hadnt created any data packages specifically for the iPhone YET. He said there were rumors that there will be iphone specific data plans coming out in the next 2 weeks or so.

I hope so as the 107mb currently being offered is quite poor when compared to the other providers!!!

Hey guys, first time poster, long time lurker.

Looking at getting an 8GB on Optus prepaid. Obviously call/data rates on prepaid will not be as competitive as they would be on a contract, but nevertheless does anyone who has already done the legwork know which provider gives the most value?

yeah had a look today and it had disappeared

i ordered on thursday arvo with the 29 cap and hoping to get it delivered this or next week

Did a raincheck order on Friday 11th and signed a Yes! Plan, thinking now a cap will be better as people I have spoken to with first gen iPhones are hard pushed to get past 100MB a month and I would like to make more calls/text than I do currently.

Called Optus but my details are not in the system and he thinks it would be about $100 plus to change to a cap

Will call the store in the morning and ask, just wondering if any one has tried to change over and what the outcome was, as I do not have the phone yet and have only been a customer for 4 days thought it would not be too much of a hassle.

Ive never really used web browsing on my previous phones so im totally in the dark when it comes to knowing how many mb of data im likely to use with the iphone.

Obviously it depends on what u do with the phone but on average how many mb of data do u all go thru in a month roughly???

Someone on Whirlpool has found a possible Telstra loophole to get NextG coverage without paying an order of magnitude more than (e.g.) Optus...

Telstra pre paid $60 recharge offer. Get 250 minutes & 250 SMS to use within 30 days as well as $60 pre-paid credit. Use the credit to get a $59 200MB pre-paid 'browse plus pack'. Gets you 250 minutes/250 SMS and 200MB data per 30 days. no contracts, etc.

If you need more minutes/data, recharge every 20 days (essentially 375 minutes/375 SMS per month) and get a $89 1GB browser pack. Or some combination.

If this is possible it is very tempting to me. I like NextG coverage - don't see the point of a mobile if it doesn't work when you want it to.

Benefits:
No contract.
Can change if Telstra improves general plan data costs or specific iPhone plans or iPhone business plans etc...
Can actually titrate your spend to your needs a bit better (just recharge either minutes or data when you're running low).

Possible downsides?
Maybe the deal won't hang around.
Still need to pay for voicemail deposit/retrieval & special numbers.
Need to keep an eye on usage & recharge to avoid excess data rates ($2/MB) or excess calls (pre-paid rates).

Anybody with familiarity with Telstra care to comment & show me what I'm missing? Must be something obvious...

Disclaimer: I realise this is not better than optus/virgin (even voda) plans but it would be a damn sight better than an Telstra iPhone consumer contract (without the wifi which is useless if you don't work in the CBD).

Scott

This is a great alternative if you only have 5 numbers to call in your life. Else, you would need credit to make a call (numbers which are not in your friends list).

thinking of going on $29 yes plan for 24 months (because it makes 16gb only $408) but want to make sure i pay no more than $29 per month how do i do this?

By keeping a careful eye on your calls/text. I was on a Yes Plan, but decided I would be better on a cap, that way I know each month my bill will be $49.

I think you can check calls and text made by logging into your Optus account online.

I have also heard about revised plans from Telstra in the next week or so. Fingers crossed.

I think you are thinking about another offer - I am talking about $60 recharge "talk & text more". 250 minutes of calls to any landline/mobile in Australia and 250 SMS to use in 30 days. link: Prepaid - Latest Offers - Talk & Text More - Telstra

Only exceptions look to be voicemail, divesrions, international, special numbers.

Again, please show me what I'm missing...

scott

The $29 yes plan is not the best value. If you go up to the $39 yes plan your handset repayments go down by $5/month, making the difference between them only $5 in total. The $39 plan has $10 more credit, slightly better call rates and (the big one) 500MB data instead of just 250MB.

If you can find $5 extra per month, it's much better value.

(The flipside is that it's pointless going up another $10 to $49. No reduced handset repayments, no extra data, very slightly reduced call rates.)

I am seriously starting to thinking about switching to Optus as their plans seem so much better than Vodafone, whom I have been a loyal customer to and told others to use them. No more!

One feature of Vodafone that I love though is their voicemail call back service. If I miss a call or can't get to a call the call goes to message back, if a message is left, vodafone call me back for free to deliver that message. If vodafone voicemail calls me it is free, only when I call my voicemail does it cost money.

The Question: Does Optus have this feature?