Free IPhone 3G: European Bastards to Get Free iPhone and Great Monthly Plans. This ultimately is not surprising, since the iPhone has essentially become just another smartphone in the eyes of the carriers. With O2 in the UK, you sign up for an 18-month contract at about $90 a month, and for your trouble get 1200 minutes, 500 texts, and free data, made even more attractive by the fact that your incoming calls and texts are always free AND by the fact that you get free access to TheCloud, which is the largest commercial Wi-Fi provider in the UK – basically the equivalent of getting free access to the T-Mobile Wi-Fi service. Long story short: 18-month obligation, $1620 total cost, because that 8 GB iPhone is FREE.
Meanwhile, America: $40 for the minimum service (450 night/5000N-W min), $5 for 200 texts a month, and $30 for the unlimited data service. So you’re paying $1350 for that 18 months, PLUS $200 for the 8 GB iPhone, PLUS you’re using up your alloted minutes and texts to receive as well, PLUS it doesn’t look like there’s any free service on otherwise-paid-for WiFi networks, PLUS you’re still on the hook for an additional 6 months because it’s a 2-year contract. If you actually wanted to replicate the O2 offer, consider the 900-minute plan ($60/month) and assume you’d use a lot of your free nights/weekends to make up the diff. Add in the next plan up, which goes from 200 to 1500 messages ($15 a month, and you’ll need those to cover the cost of what you would have received free) and the data plan (still $30) and you’re at $105 a month – or, when you factor in the cost of the phone, $2090 over the first 18 months.
It was a valiant effort, but Apple has failed to break the back of the steam-age telecommunications industry in the United States. The rest of the world has moved on, but between the kind of mobility offerings we get and the fact that 256kbps is considered “broadband” for legal purposes, the fact is that we’re a Third World country when it comes to 21st century communications, and that’s a disgrace.
Incidentally, upon further review, if I were to upgrade it would actually cost me $680 on top of what I already pay – I forgot to factor in my FAN discount from the last job and the additional text message costs. No bloody way am I paying that kind of coin just to add 3G and GPS – that’s 2/3 of a sweet big-screen TV.