Virgin Mobile’s iPhone 4 pricing has narrowly beaten both Optus and Vodafone for value, and left Telstra’s iPhone 4 plans in the dust at the low end in Australia.
Virgin Mobile, who use the Optus Mobile network, have undercut Optus’ iPhone 4 plans at the low end of the subscriber market, with iPhone 4 Cap plans starting at $29 through $59. Virgin Mobile’s $59 iPhone 4 Cap plan is a slap in the face to Optus who had been seen as the best value option with their own $59 Cap plan that included a free 16Gb iPhone 4 and 2Gb of data. Virgin Mobile one upped Optus by including 2.5Gb of data in their own $59 iPhone 4 cap plan, which also includes a free iPhone 4.
Virgin Mobile’s iPhone 4 plans slice up their users into two psychographic profiles, ‘talkers’ and ‘mobile internet users’, and tailored two groups of iPhone 4 plans to suit each offering different value propositions. At the low end starting at $29, Virgin Mobile offers ‘talkers’ equivalent talk time to rival Vodafone but only 100Mb of download quota vs Vodafone’s 550Mb (50Mb + 500Mb ‘bonus’) but including the $15 handset levy for a 16gb iPhone 4 is $3 cheaper per month than Vodafone if you aren’t a heavy mobile data user.
When it comes to ‘mobile internet users’ Virgin Mobile bests both Optus and Vodafone for value, including 1.5Gb of data on their $39 iPhone 4 cap plan, 2Gb on the $49 iPhone 4 Cap plan and 2.5Gb on the $59 tier. Virgin Mobile seems content to play in the low-value side of the iPhone 4 market, by not having plans on pricing tiers above $59 per month.
Vodafone yesterday split the iPhone 4 pricing of rivals Optus and Telstra, coming in at price points which made direct comparisons difficult. Virgin Mobile today have further convoluted the choice of iPhone 4 plans by undercutting their network provider Optus (so, essentially providing the same network experience) but by not competing with Optus at the high value end of the iPhone 4 market. Virgin Mobile do however, aim themselves squarely at rival Vodafone, with a range of plans to suit both high mobile data users and talkers alike in the $29 per month to $59 per month cap plan space.
Business iPhone 4 customers should be able to take advantage of these Virgin Mobile prices, however some caveats may apply. Virgin Mobile is expected to announce full terms and conditions on their website tomorrow.
