Thinking about signing up for iPhone 3G service? Here are some pricing details you’ll want to know about.1. You have to pay $18 or $36. A one time $36 activation fee still applies to 3G plans, the way it did for the first generation iPhone. If you’re a current AT&T subscriber, this fee is only $18.

2. Data costs more. On the original iPhone plans, unlimited data cost $20/month. The new iPhone 3G plans cost $30/month.

3. Exchange costs $15/month more beyond that. The normal 3G iPhone data plan costs $30/month. Enterprise data costs $45/month. This buys you access to all the standard Exchange features. If you need to get Exchange mail, or access data inside your firewall, you’re an enterprise user. AT&T isn’t saying they’ll disable ActiveSync and Exchange on normal iPhone plans for non-corporate users so we’re unsure how they’ll police this policy. Our Christina speculates that the enterprise plan sets up the server to accept exchange support; you could do IMAP from your exchange account but if you want non-MobileMe push, you gotta be on the enterprise tier plan.

Follow the jumps for more plan pricing details.

  4. SMS isn’t included. 200 Text Messages a month start at $5 and go up to $15 for 1500 and $20 for unlimited SMS messages.

5. You can buy SMS a la cart. SMS messages cost $0.20 each if you aren’t on one of the monthly plans. This is a bit pricey. Late last year, I was still paying $0.05 for AT&T SMS a la carte. Then they jumped to $0.15, and now $0.20.

6. Voice minutes still start at $40/month. There are no prepaid contract free Pay as You Go plans available for the 3G iPhone. $40/month buys you 450 minutes. Price plans go up from there to $200/month for 6000 minutes.

7. International plans are available. You must activate International Roaming before leaving the US and set up a plan. Call 866-331-0500 to find out more about international roaming and long distance. Keep in mind this consideration is true of nearly all smartphones from AT&T and not just the iPhone.

8. There are no 3G-less discounts. If you live in an area that doesn’t have 3G service, you’re still going to pay at least $30/month for data. AT&T no longer offers the original $20/month data plan. Many people consider the $20/month plan an incredible bargain.

via http://www.tuaw.com/2008/07/01/iphone-101-eight-3g-iphone-plan-pricing-details-you-need-to-kno/

Posted on July 2nd, 2008 by admin
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Many months ago, I wrote about adding data packages to AT&T Pay As You Go accounts. I had hacktivated my iPhone to use the PAYG SIM to see how long it took to go through an entire 5MB data feature package. Answer? A few minutes. In case you don’t see where I’m going with this, let me add that I just got off the phone with AT&T a few seconds ago. They have now officially added a new feature data package: for $19.95 you get unlimited data for 30 days.

The way this works is as follows. You go to an AT&T store and buy a $100 prepaid SIM. This SIM is good for one year of use. You get a phone number, you get $100 of credit. Calls cost you either $0.25/minute or $1/day of use plus $0.10/minute. You pick which one when you set up the account.

Read on for the rest of the details.

Next, you hacktivate your iPhone. iLiberty+ or any of the other tools out there allow you to stick in an AT&T SIM and activate the phone. This is not unlocking; this is adding authorization files directly to the phone. Your iPhone’s modem remains unaffected and pristine.

Finally, you call 611 and enter the new phone number and your PIN. Tell the mechanical lady that you want to “Buy Features” and when she asks, “Data Packages”. Choose the Unlimited MediaNet option. This costs $19.95 against that already-purchased $100 amount, and you’re good for an entire month of unlimited data use.

What are the drawbacks? First, you *must* watch your dates and times carefully. When you go past your 30 days, you start paying at the outrageous standard data rate of $10/MB. Read that again. If you use the iPhone without the data-plan functioning, you might spend $20 to view a 2MB picture of a dog — the way I did back in September.

Second, PAYG plans are not sanctioned by Apple. That means your non-AppleCare warranty coverage is practically non-existent. Caveat Emptor. It’s not much worse than buying an iPod touch, but you will be SOL if you need any kind of Apple support.

Finally, if you plan to use data every single month, you’ll need to keep adding money to your account every 5 months. The $100/one year arrangement only works until the money runs out. Make sure you’re ready to re-fund that account as needed.

If you’re willing to put up with all these negatives, you end up with a contract-free unlimited-data iPhone with the option of making calls for just $20/month or so. It’s an amazing deal. You don’t need a doctor’s note. It works for both the hearing and hearing impaired alike. Just keep careful track of the plan and you’re good to go.

via http://www.tuaw.com/2008/05/12/finally-a-data-only-iphone-plan-for-20-month/

Posted on May 19th, 2008 by admin
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Apple’s iPhone will be brought to India, Singapore, Australia, and the Philippines, as well as other six countries later this year.Singapore Telecommunications (SingTel) has declared today that the iPhone via SingTel will probably be available on the Airtel network in India. SingTel also claimed to have signed an agreement with Bharti Airtel and Globe Telecom with Apple to this effect.

Posted on May 12th, 2008 by admin
Filed under: iPhone News, iPhone Plan, iPhone Reviews, iPhone Cases | No Comments »

AT&T, the nation’s largest wireless carrier, has announced it will reduce the $175 termination fee it charges customers who end their wireless contracts early.

Starting May 25, new and renewing customers will pay $5 less for every month they fulfill of their one- and two-year contracts. For example, if you’ve got one year left in a two-year contract, canceling will cost you $115. However, if you renew your contract or start a new one with AT&T before May 25, expect to pay the flat early termination fee of $175. (Better to wait if you can).

AT&T joins Verizon Wireless, which began pro-rating early termination fees in 2006. Like AT&T, Sprint and T-Mobile also announced in late 2007 that they would take similar action. Sprint and T-Mobile both charge $200 if you end your contract before it is up.

Two weeks ago, U.S. Sen. Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn., sent letters to executives at AT&T, Sprint and T-Mobile urging them to provide assurances that they plan to follow through with those promises. Klobuchar introduced legislation last year requiring wireless carriers to prorate these early termination fees.

Posted on April 2nd, 2008 by admin
Filed under: iPhone News, iPhone Plan | No Comments »

AT&T unveiled their first unlimited voice and calling plans for cell phones on February 19, but at that time it was only available to normal cellphones. Today they have officially announced an unlimited voice and data plan for the iPhone.

For just $60 more than the standard $59.99 plan with 450 minutes, you can get unlimited minutes, opening up the possibility of actually talking your mouth off. It still has all the bells and whistles of the other iPhone plans, including unlimited Data and Visual Voicemail. What’s not so great is the fact that for the price of $119.99 a month, you can talk all you want but you still only get the standard 200 SMS text messages. It’s as though they’re willing to give you anything you want except more SMS messages.

They really are just begging for someone to make an AIM app.

via http://www.iphonealley.com/news/at-t-now-offering-unlimited-voice-plan-for-iphone-still-just-200-sms?s=afcea7d2905b2365e7eae0c1b9d01c6f&

Posted on March 10th, 2008 by admin
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AT&T announced a new unlimited voice plan for wireless customers. Priced at $100 per month, the new plan will be available February 22nd and can be used by iPhone customers. However, iPhone customers will still be required to have AT&T’s $20 data plan in conjunction with the unlimited voice package. We’ve confirmed with AT&T that no contract extension is required to use the new plan.

Upgrading to the unlimited plan, according to AT&T, requires “visiting company-owned retail stores and kiosks, at www.att.com, or at one of the thousands of authorized AT&T retail locations.”

As confirmed in-house, however, you can also call AT&T’s customer service line (800-331-0500) right now and ask to be called on February 22nd for an immediate upgrade.

Meanwhile, Phonemag.com reports that the option “will show up in iTunes shortly.” We assume this refers to customers establishing new lines of service with iPhones, though an iTunes-based upgrade option would certainly be welcome.

Posted on February 20th, 2008 by admin
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UK Apple partner O2, who hold the exclusivity contract on the British version of the iPhone, have today announced a refresh of their iPhone-specific monthly tariffs that could see users with up to three times the amount of included voice minutes and SMS text messages as before.  While the two entry-level packages - priced at £35 ($69) and £45 ($89) - will not change in price, subscribers on the cheapest tariff, say, will receive 600 minutes rather than 200.

O2 has also axed the current high-end tariff, which was priced at £55 ($109), and replaced it with a “top tier” plan that costs a whopping £75 ($149) a month.  It includes the same unlimited data as the cheaper bundles, and gives users 3,000 included minutes and 500 text messages.

The iPhone handset itself remains £269 ($533) with a minimum 18-month contract.  While critics have suggested that the price cuts are related to unexpectedly poor sales performance of the cellphone in Europe, O2 insisted that it remained their “fastest selling” device and “an unbeatable proposition”

via Guardian

Posted on January 30th, 2008 by admin
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One of the major obstacles for potential iPhone buyers is that the iPhone is offered exclusively via select carriers. Even if users are willing to switch carriers, they may not be willing to eat the often multi-hundred dollar early-termination fee that they would incur.

Several websites are now available to help users avoid various cell carrier fees. Cellswapper.com and Celltradeusa.com both are geared towards helping users seeking to end their contracts early avoid early termination fees, while helping new customers avoid activation fees.

Both sites work on a similar principle in that service providers will typically allow the transfer of contracts without termination or activation fees. The sites therefore act as a meeting place for users to find each other.

Note that the service is not without any cost, as the sites do charge a fee for matchmaking, however the end result should be considerably less than termination and activation fees.

via http://www.macrumors.com/iphone/2007/11/29/getting-out-of-your-contract-without-a-termination-fee/

Posted on November 30th, 2007 by admin
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A while back AT&T enabled iPhone owners to edit their iphone service plans online to exclude EDGE data service from their plans, carving out a good $20 from their monthly fees. Unfortunately, AT&T recently removed their online editing of service plans for iPhone customers.

While it looks like no more customers will be able to remove EDGE from their wireless plans, it is unknown what AT&T will decide to do for those who have already removed the EDGE from their iPhone plans.

One reader of TUAW claims that this is not AT&T removing the feature, but a normal downtime screen. Have you tried to remove EDGE from your iPhone plan? If you try it out, let us know the results.

Posted on November 30th, 2007 by admin
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Sick of paying $20 a month for EDGE? Want to save $240/year? TUAW reader Josh tipped us off to his iPhone News post that reveals that you can now remove it from your iphone plan. If you rarely use EDGE and live around ubiquitous WiFi (like I do), this is a great way to save some money.

I gave this a try myself but my GoPhone account didn’t have the on-web option shown here. So I gave AT&T a call. It was, as always, an adventure and although I was told that you had to do this over their IBR IVR voice recognition system, I did find a service agent who was able to help me in person. (The IBR kept putting me in Spanish mode for some reason. Go figure.)

So as of my next billing cycle, my iPhone will now drop its EDGE/Data plan. This means I’m losing visual voicemail and EDGE access. Neither is a big deal for me. I can still check my voicemail by calling my iPhone on a landline, typing star (*) and entering my passcode. It also drops my monthly cost to $29.99/month–more than I want to be paying but not quite so much as before. I keep my AT&T account and, presumably, some level of Apple support and warranty service.

This option won’t be of interest to those of you who pull down the big megabytes over EDGE but for us WiFi folks, it’s fab.

Update: You may want to install Services.app, a program that allows you to disable EDGE while retaining calls and WiFi service.

via http://www.tuaw.com/2007/11/16/drop-your-iphone-data-plan-keep-voice/

Posted on November 19th, 2007 by admin
Filed under: iPhone News, iPhone Plan, iPhone Tips | No Comments »