Optus has revealed the pricing for the new iPhone 3G S however some observers say it was a deliberate leak to to mislead their compitition.
Apple are believed to be upset as they had insisted that all pricing be kept secret until all three carriers simultaneously launch the new model tomorrow week.
The details were discovered in a document on the Optus Web site and quickly published on Whirlpool, a site devoted to broadband issues. One insider at Vodafone told ChannelNews that the leak could well have been deliberate in an attempt to The Optus document reveals complex plans that appear close to pricing for the current 8- and 16GB 3G models only they will apply to the new 16- and 32 3G S versions. They include “Yes” cap plans ranging from $19 to $79 a month, though a $29 option has been dropped. Handset pricing is extra.
The documents indicate significantly lower pricing for the existing 8GB model, which continues in production. A section of the document, published widely across the Web last night puts the monthly handset payment at $11/month on a 24-month contract users would need to add a ‘Yes” cap plan for usage. Previously Optus has charged $21 month for an 8GB iPhone.
A more contentious issue is “tethering”: the ability to use the new 3G S iPhone as a data modem to connect a laptop to a 3G data service. Optus makes it plain there will be an additional charge for tethering, which some mobile users think is over the odds.
Vodafone has also indicated that it will allow tethering, but Telstra has stayed silent on the issue. A previous report revealed that a screen displayed at the iPhone launch in San Francisco earlier this month listed Telstra among telcos supporting tethering was incorrect: alert reader Andrew Jeffrey has notified us that this slide referred not to support for tethering but for MMS messaging).
