Another one for our watch out for mobile broadband rip-offs file: David Neiger at APC reports that many Virgin customers who have used their phone as a modem have been shocked to receive large bills after being charged a high-priced casual data rate of 1.5 cents a kilobyte. VIrgin customers can purchase a more reasonably priced data bundle at $15 for a gigabyte, but as Neiger points out, that’s still more expensive than almost anything else on the market. (The company claims prices will drop shortly; we’ll see.) As always, the golden rule is to check the conditions very carefully before using your mobile as a data device.
Mobile broadband at just $15,728.64 per GB anyone? [APC]Dan Warne at APC reports that Virgin’s mobile broadband service, which uses Optus’ 3G network, is no longer going to be sold via retailers (though it will continue to be sold via the Virgin site and over the phone). While Virgin hasn’t gone as far as Optus itself, which pulled its similar Fusion product altogether back in September, it suggests once again that excess usage can quickly floor a 3G broadband service, and that checking you have suitable coverage before signing up is vital. If you’re in the market for 3G broadband, be sure to check our comparison guide to available options.
Virgin Broadband pulled from retail sale [APC]As expected, Virgin Mobile has officially launched its iPhone plans in Australia — and they look like a relative bargain. With 3 also launching iPhone data plans (even though it can’t sell the phones), Optus updating its plans soon after launch and Telstra dropping its data charges yesterday, the plan landscape is now looking rather different than it did on iPhone launch day just three weeks ago. Click the jump for our analysis of where the best deals are now (assuming you can find someone with a phone in stock).
We’ll hold off on analysing the prices until the official announcement, but Nick over at Gizmodo has confirmed that Virgin will be selling the iPhone, probably this week, and probably at a price somewhat lower than Optus (which supplied Virgin’s network). At the risk of saying “I told you so”, both this development and Optus’ recent Timeless plans confirm Lifehacker’s long-held view that buying an iPhone as soon as it got released was likely to lead to a less than optimal deal. (And that’s without considering the battery and MobileMe issues.)
