I have heard that Virgin have a speed cap on their mobile data (ie data on mobile phones, not data on mobile broadband), where Optus do not.

This would mean you can go as fast as your handset can go on Optus, but hit a wall on Virgin.

Virgin also do not support 3-way conference calls, which for the first time is extremely easy to use on the iPhone. Optus do.
=================================
Are Virgin Cheaper than Optus?
Here's a quick rundown I didn't mean to write but it just kinda happened.
If you want $250-$300 worth of calls, Optus & Virgin would work out almost identically in real cost with an iPhone - perhaps with Optus even being cheaper.

CAP PLANS (Voice):

Virgin: $45 plan, $250 calls, 40c per 30sec, 40c flagfall.

Optus: $49 plan, $300 calls, 40c per 30 sec, 35c flagfall.

Winner?: Virgin on per month cost, but actually Optus in real terms (lower flagfall means 5c savings per call).

Cost of iPhone 16gb:

Approx outright purchase: $849 (approx) **
Optus cost of same phone (12mth): $47 per month = $564

Winner?: Outright sounds great, but Optus's contract cost saves you $400. That goes a long way to more data. On a 12month plan that's $33 more per month you could throw at Optus allowing you to move to the $89 or $149 plans. The calls then get cheaper, and then the iPhone becomes approx $14 per month cheaper, giving you even more savings.

** Note we don't know if Virgin will package the phones costs or not - this is currently available info.

Data Cost:
Virgin: 300Mb +$10 additional cost (or 1GB for $15)
Optus: 250Mb + no additional cost

Winner?: Virgin definately wins on data pricing up front (& extra 50Mb), but the additional $10 could up you to the $59 per month plan on Optus giving you 500Mb (and more calls). Throw in the handset savings costs above and you can get to 1GB data for less than the Virgin plan over the 12 month period.

So the moral to the story? Do your sums - as you can see Virgin aren't actually less expensive

Regards,
Shane.

Well I can't verify the claim but my experience with Virgin customer support on Friday seems to support the idea.

I rang to confirm when my contract's up (so I can ditch my phone and go with Optus for an iPhone, but I didn't tell them that) and got escalated to a "supervisor". Once I had my date confirmed, I casually asked if I just go on to month-by-month after that, or if I want a new phone can I go on the same contract. He got very enthusiastic all of a sudden and said, "yes yes keep an eye on our website we've got some FANTASTIC phones coming out in the next month, just keep an eye out I think you'll really be excited".

Of course, this was Friday, iPhone day, and at first I took his strange tone as nervous desperation to keep a customer (I never said I was leaving), but on reflection it got me wondering...

I am wondering - if they are going to release iphone plans, when are they going to be able to actually sell the handsets?

If optus is struggling to fill existing orders (anyone know of any optus store that has any iphones?) - where are virgin going to get theirs from?

bzzt.

Wrong answer.

I stood with a friend on the virgin network, both with iPhone's at peak hour today, and once more, my calls went through every time, his 'failed' 3 and sometimes 4 times in a row.

This is strange, I was under the impression you would be literally connected to the same towers.

the above is incorrect..

from a radio access networks point of view, any subscriber has equal access. the wbts is not able to tell who is what*, a request for an element is just that, a request.

*optus currently do not offer/use QOS for its network

what happens on the other side of the radio network. well, that's another story.

Thanks for the long, useful post. I suspect that different usage patterns will make a big difference here. Virgin's separate voice and (cheap) data plans can offer more flexible options than the tied data allowance on the "loads of minutes" cap plans and the "not very many minutes" yes plans.

Also, a big reason to stay with prepaid/on account plans is the flexibility to move around/upgrade/whatever. The early termination costs on Optus are pretty high, so check them out and -- if better coverage is important -- weigh up the odds of Telstra potentially lowering their data pricing over the next two years. Alternatively, what if the next iPhone has 900MHz support and you're stuck in a contract with the current model?

Appreciate that i'm a newbie but the fact of the matter is that while i've been using this forum to pick up plenty of hints and tips ever since i switched to a mac a year ago, i've not really had a reason to contribute anything before now.

And having been unfortunate (stupid) enough to get stuck into a long contract with Virgin on my current plan & phone, therefore leaving the most obvious option shelling out for a pre-paid Optus phone and using my Virgin SIM card, picking up this news from Virgin seemed worthy of sharing with others in case they were in a similar position to me.

Hopefully at some point in the future i'll have clocked up enough posts for people not to think i'm full of it, but this is honestly what they told me in the shop, so hopefully this info will have been useful to someone.

I didn't mean it personally WilhelmFink.. Like you I'm a recently new poster..

With all the hype and non-information going on recently in the community and from carriers and Apple, it's easy to become skeptical when things are posted. Like I said, it would be fantastic if Virgin did release the iPhone.

It certainly would be worth waiting to see what they come up with..

Doesn't take into account the free virgin to virgin text calls unlimited day or night

thats a large selling point for me.

The thing I'm concerned about is the data speeds and the supposed network failure of calls...anyone else got experiences to share?

I've been with virgin (Pre-Pay) since i got my 1st gen iPhone last year. Had very few drop outs and the free txt's to other virgin mobiles is great ( most of my friends are on virgin as well) i top up far less than i ever did on Optus pre-pay. Coverage wise i've never had a problem.
They'll continue to get my $$ with those data plans as well.

I do NOT work for Optus or Virgin - just another iPhone user that's done some sums to get best bang for buck.

I guess it depends on how many texts you send and calls you make as part of the "free" Virgin to Virgin, and whether the extra cap you get on Optus would cover it.

Example:
1. On the $49 plan you already have $50 more calls & text available on Optus (with flagfall acounted for) that's 25 two minute calls OR 43 one minute calls OR 200 SMS messages.

2. If you used the $10 you would have used on Virgin to get 300Mb and added that to your Optus cap instead, you'd be on the $59 cap, giving you $100 more calls & text vs Virgin $45 cap. That's 51 two minute calls OR 86 one minute calls OR 400 text messages. And you'd have 500Mb data instead of 300Mb.

Don't forget - unlike "Virgin to Virgin" these "extra" calls/SMS are for use to anyone, not just other Optus customers.

To Keep in Mind:
If you then take the extra cash you've saved on the handset cost (outright vs on plan) there's hundreds of dollars extra to throw at a higher Optus cap plan giving you even more calls/text that you can use to replace the "free" Virgin to Virgin calls/text.

I don't know about you but when I did my sums of my usage I didn't use that many Virgin to Virgin calls nor SMS messages.

The main thing you have to get past here (and it was difficult for me too) is that you are on contract again. This is why I chose 12 months, so it's as short as possible. I know there is every chance Apple will come out with a new model in 12 months time, and a capacity bump (ie 32gb) in the next 6 months or so. I can live with size constraints for 6 months, but not a major feature change that would happen in 12 months.

Oh and at the end of 12 months you unlock it and choose whichever carrier you want from there.

===============================
Whilst I don't believe I'll need this (I've made my peace with it), getting out of contract is still a bit confusing for me ie do you just pay the termination fee? Or do you pay accruing percentages of it?

12 month termination fee on $49 cap = $440
1-6 months = 100%
7-9 months = 70%
10-12 months = 40%

So if I quit in the first 6 months do I just pay $440?
Or do I pay 440(100%)+308(70%)+176(40%)= $924 ?
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Regards,
Shane.

Try this.

Just beware there is a slight error in the 24 month contract figures - the 12 month termination fee should be the ITF x 100%.

[EDIT] To answer your question - you only pay the percentage of the termination fee that applies, eg 100%. You also have to pay out the remaining cost of the handset.

In effect, it means that once you reach the 16-18 month mark for 14 month contracts or 7-9 month mark for 12 month contracts, there's no point in terminating early as you'll effectively be paying more than you would if you stuck it out for another few months.

cool down my friend, I didn't think you were working for either.

For me, up to 3000 texts/2000 mins calls is a selling point. Whichever plan/network I chose I plan on bringing my closest friends (including my girlfriend!) with me, and exploiting such.

I'll wait a little longer, if virgin come out with specific iphone plans I'll be able to suss it out properly I guess.

On a seperate note, what would the pay out of a 59 optus cap with $7 handset repayments be at the 12mnth mark? Anyone feel like doing the math? haha. Much love if someone can be bothered.

That wasn't aimed at you

Regards,
Shane.