O2 in the UK have announced a "Pay & Go" pricing plan for the iPhone 3G. "Pay & Go" is the equivalent of prepay here in New Zealand sees those who purchase an iPhone not tied to any ongoing contract. From 16 September, customers in the UK will be able to purchase at a price of £349.99 for the 8 GB version and the 16GB version for £399.99. Not only is there no ongoing cost, but the purchase also includes "unlimited browsing and Wi-Fi for the first 12 months after you activate your iPhone 3G. At the end of the 12 months you can continue to receive unlimited browsing and Wi-Fi for just £10 per month." This is in stark contrast to here in New Zealand, where Vodafone do not offer the iPhone on prepay, nor any free browsing as part of any bundle for a one-off payment.

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DragonFire said: September 03, 2008   Votes: +0

What people have to keep in mind is that in NZ the majority of web traffic heads outside the country and we only have a population of a bit over 4 million people. In other countries they don't have so much traffic headed outside the country (esp. in the USA) and they have a substantially higher population eg. I believe that the UK has roughly 60 million people - just a few more than here and thus the potential market for the phone is higher and thus the income. Its a simple economy of scale. I'm all for cheap phones and data in NZ but the fact of the matter is that we simply don't have the population to support it.

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Philip Roy said: September 03, 2008   Votes: +1

	OK, forget cheaper phones, forget free wifi...I've had lots of people emailing me saying they know someone who knows someone at VFNZ and they'd love to sell a prepay option, but Apple won't let them. I've never bought that argument and this move by O2 confirms it for me. BTW, never had any response to the printed petition of 1994 signatures I sent to VFNZ. Not that I expected any.
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Cuby said: September 03, 2008 | url    Votes: +0

Grr, Vodafone.... Yeah, that's not too shabby a deal being offered there by O2. Shame Vodafone can't even attempt to make their plans look attractive. Also a real shame to hear that Vodafone didn't even bother replying to almost 2000 Kiwis from the petition... Oh well, I guess Vodafone isn't really ever going to be a happy, friendly, cheap company. What we need here in NZ is a brand new Mobile Phone Service Provider to open up with incredibly cheap deals that would convert all Telecom and Vodafone customers to the new one. I look forward to the day......

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Philip Roy said: September 03, 2008   Votes: +0

	What we need here in NZ is a brand new Mobile Phone Service Provider Well, we now have TelstraClear.... ...with incredibly cheap deals Well you got the first wish, just not the second. Wish it was the other way around
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maccrazy said: September 08, 2008   Votes: +1

While it is certainly a better deal than here, it is incorrect to say that the iPhone is not available on prepay. While admittedly they initially said that it wasn't available on prepay (and there is still some evidence of that in their help articles), you can walk into a store tomorrow and buy one outright that is fully functional other than data (which everyone now knows can be fixed in a few minutes via one of the many simple work arounds).

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Philip Roy said: September 08, 2008   Votes: +0

	Wow...how many times are we going to have this conversation !!!!!!?? http://vodafonenz.custhelp.com...faqid=6513 The link states... Question - I am a Vodafone Prepay customers – can I get iPhone 3G on Prepay Answer - No, iPhone will not be available on Prepay. Officially the iPhone is NOT available on prepay.
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