David Frith | July 29, 2008
THINKING about buying an iPhone? You'll certainly have a lot of fun using this wondrous little gadget, which is more a dinky computer and handheld internet device than a mobile phone.
iPhone users be warned: you may in for a nasty shock when your first monthly bill arrives
But be warned: you may in for a nasty shock when your first monthly bill arrives.
The IDC market research firm, which has just surveyed the field, reckons unwary users could find themselves being stung as much as $1000 per gigabyte for data usage in excess of monthly allowances.
And those monthly allowances can be ridiculously small: it would be all too easy to rack up several gigabytes in a month.
IDC may even be understating the problem: under some plans, you can be stung as much as $2000 a gigabyte.
The iPhone is available from three of Australia's major four mobile phone carriers: Optus, Telstra and Vodafone. They present a bewildering array of purchasing plans.
But most do not stress the often hidden costs of surfing the web and downloading data while connected to their 3G mobile phone networks.
Telstra may well be the worst offender. Customers who sign up for its basic $30/month plan are entitled to only a measly 5MB of data.
As IDC points out, you can eat up that "free" 5MB monthly allowance in just one minute or so, downloading a single song. Exceed that and you'll be charged at least $1 per megabyte - that's $1000 a gigabyte.
Telstra's complex plans start with an upfront cost: zero on some plans, up to $399 on others. Then you pay a monthly amount, ranging from $30 to $350, that covers some voice or text calls and includes a small amount - typically $5-$10 - towards data.
On top of that, you're encouraged to sign up for a data "browser pack": $5/month gets you the 5MB pack; $29/month delivers 80MB; $89/month will get you a gigabyte.
Choosing a higher-end pack gets the excess charge down to 25c a megabyte, or $250 per gigabyte.
If you don't sign up for a browsing pack, you cop Telstra's pay-as-you-go charge on your excess data: up to $2 a megabyte, or $2000 for every gigabyte. Ouch!
Using your Telstra iPhone to make mobile calls can also be costly: as much as 92c a minute if you exceed your monthly limit.
But Telstra does offer one big advantage over the other two carriers: its Next G offers by far the best coverage, spreading across to a claimed 99 per cent of the population.
Due to spectrum differences, Optus and Vodafone offer true 3G mainly in capital cities and larger country areas.
If you don't plan to do a lot of travelling, their plans may offer better value for would-be iPhone buyers.
IDC's survey reckons Optus has the widest selection of options, provides the most flexibility and arguably the best overall value for users.
It certainly offers bigger data allowances than Telstra: for example, 100MB on a $19 cap plan, 500MB on a $29 plan - but you still face the possibility of hefty excess data bills: 35c a meg, or $350 per gigabyte, for excess data use.
These excessive data charges seem peculiar to Australia. In the US, for instance, the sole carrier offering the iPhone, AT&T, offers unlimited data for $US30 ($31.38) a month.
One problem with all Australian carriers is that users have little idea of how many megabytes they're chewing up while online.
Apple invites you to grab applications for your iPhone from its new App Store. Most are free or cost only a few dollars, but there's no indication of how many megabytes each consumes. Likewise for downloading music or videos via iTunes, Apple's music store.
There is one way to enjoy the iPhone's web and data capabilities and yet keep your billing at a minimum. That's to use its ability to connect via WiFi.
Telstra offers its subscribers free connections to its WiFi network, which is mainly spread around Sydney and Melbourne CBDs. And for a price, you can connect at internet cafes, airport lounges, Starbucks or McDonald's - it's still cheaper than paying 3G excess data fees.
Best bet is to set up a WiFi network at home and use that for downloading data, applications or music. You'll pay nothing for the connection.
Your Comments:
14 Comment(s)
Reading this article sent me into a panic. I quickly checked my usage after heavily using my iphone for youtube and chatting whilst not connected to WiFI. I've used 29 meg of 500. Wow. Relax guys. (Confused of Brisbane) The only reason not to buy an iPhone is the battery life time. Runs out pretty quick.
confused of brisbane - other phones access the internet too. Don't think that any other smartphone won't cop the same charges for excess data. This is not iPhone specific.
The "industry" is continuing to come up with new means to sting the naive and the stupid. There are just so many suckers out there to take down. Use your computer to access the internet etc. and your phone to make phone calls and you won't be caught in the telco tech sting.
All this tells me is this is a good reason NOT to buy an iPhone.
Why don't carriers offer unlimited downloads like they do here in the UK? Although in saying that, the iphone is only available on one carrier in the UK as well...
The gist of this article is true, but it misses a key point. There is a lot of anecdotal evidence from overseas that iPhone users tend to use only 100 to 200MB per month. I consider myself to use my new iPhone a lot, but in two and half weeks, I haven't used 100MB out of my 500MB allowance. The fact that the iPhone will automatically use wifi in preference to 3G is critical to this, but even if it didn't I doubt I would be over 250MB yet.
Well I have the iPhone and so far (since the 11 July) I've chewed up 169MB and uploaded 8.7MB. I'm on a $59 Yes Plan (not the cap) which allows me 700MB a month of which by the rate I'm going is overkill for me. Admittedly it's not because I don't use my iPhone much - but when I'm using it I'm in a WiFi area. On the train I have difficulties getting a solid connection, so I'm in and out. This makes watching youtube difficult - so it sucks when you are on the move (in a fast way). I think it'd be okay if you were in a cafe or a park.
You can check how much 3g network data you have used by going to the configuration app on the iphone and then selecting General - Usage. Scroll down the bottom and you can see how much data you have uploaded or downloaded through the Cellular Network. Only Problem is that I believe you have to manually reset this figure at some point. So unless you know when you billing period ends you won't know when to reset it. At least for the first month, when you are 'playing' with the phone the most, it will help you see how much data you have used and maybe curb the habbit before its too late.
I am not sure what it is like with the new 3g iPhone but the old one didnt allow itunes downloads via the 3G/Edge Network only WI-FI i am not sure that this applies to the app store or not but would assume so... the main data charge i belive from using an iPhone for the last few months was with youtube. otherwise i only used about 150mb in 3 months (granted i have wifi at home and work and dont really use youtube on my phone)
I am on an Optus plan and get 250MB, I have used it several times a day for 2 weeks to surf and get apps and itunes and I still only used 20MB. Just check your General Usage if you are so worried. Lots of sites are iPhone friendly and you dont get gobs of data up front when you land on them.
I remember the cost of broadband when it first started and the price service providers charged users for exceeding there monthly limit. Horrendous. Market share will eventually drive prices down
I am with Three, but i have to buy an Optus iphone( by the way i've already paid for two weeks ago and still no phone, I was told at the shop the contract buyers were getting preference..... mmmmm Not happy. But back to the article. We are being ripped off in all facets of the mobile and broadband market in Australia and have been forever , just look at sms cost. Unless we complain about these things it'll just keep on happening: we are stupid
The iPhone has a screen which shows the current upload and download data throughput so you can manage you 3G data usage. Go to Settings>General>Usage. Here you get usage of the phone for battery, call time and Cellular Network Data. Finally at the bottom is a reset button to reset the figures at the start of each billing period. It will pay to keep an eye on this screen as you go through your month.
I came across this page in a Google News Alert. I have a 1G iPhone here in the US. In the last few weeks it shows I've downloaded about 660 Mbytes of data over the cell network. And I don't think I'm a particularly intense network user, since a lot of my usage is on the WiFi network at my home. So the warnings in this article should be heeded!
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