Keep in mind that the prices are hard to compare at the moment with the weak dollar.
The ?29,95 is comparable to a $29,95 pricetag in the US.
I was thrilled when I heard that the iPhone was coming to the Netherlands, only to be disillusioned when I heard that T-Mobile would be the carrier. In other countries T-Mobile might be up to par (I lived in Chicago, and T-Mobile was quite OK there), but in the Netherlands T-Mobile is one of the worst providers. T-Mobile is mainly used by schoolkids, mainly because of the low costs. The businesses won't touch T-Mobile with a 10-foot stick. I have tried them for 2 months and paid them to get out of the contract... many dropped calls, no reception in my house and at my work (where I spend 80% of my time)... And I live and work in downtown Amsterdam, an area where you would expect a carrier to excel.
That is why I find it odd that a company as Apple, that puts a high priority in user-experience, selected a party like T-Mobile Netherlands. This while Vodafone is the partner of choice in other countries, and one of the number-1 carriers in The Netherlands.
Well, T-Mobile network did get better with them taking over the Orange network in the Netherlands. Where I used to have low signal in my home, I now have full signal. It is still not the best, but it certainly is better than it used to be one year ago. HSDPA coverage has also improved in the last year, but still weak 3G next to KPN and Vodafone. Yes, cheap comes at a price.
I can understand that they have to unlock after 6 months, so they try to get in the subsidy in that period, but two things really cancel that out as fair:
1) They are charging $300 USD for the 8GB iphone, which means it is hardly subsidized compared to Netherlands and other European countries, even acknowledging that Apple is most likely charging a very high wholesale price to carriers in Europe.
2) Even after the 6 months of being charged $120 USD, you are STILL CHARGED $80/month USD for only 300 minutes and 300 MB of data??????? The unlimited text is nice, but hardly a consolation for such a rip-off fee.
What is this carrier thinking? Are the normal fees in Denmark outrageous? I would have to assume not! I feel bad for the people in my ancestral homeland! Go Sjælland! lol
Actually, believe it or not, Denmark and Finland have the cheapest mobile prices. Yes this plan is crazy. Telia's HSPDA coverage really sucks in comparision to 3 and TDC/Vodafone, and the speed is max. 3,6 Mbit (probably only in Copenhagen)
Some standard prices in Denmark (in £, much easier to calculate):
£20 for unlimited data / mobile broadband (speed ranges from 3,6Mbit-7,2Mbit, 14-20 Mbit with 3 later this year)
£7 for Unlimitied SMS/MMS
With no plan, a minute is typically £0,06, a sms is £0,01, 1 MB is £0,1. No connection fee.
I am Dutch, and I think our rate plan is very good.
Actually, it's even better then you think, because the activation fee is reduced with 50%, so no 52,50 euros, but just 26,25 euros.!!! It's good to be Dutch
Before I read this, I wasn't even aware that there was an activation fee at all, and I could still not have been aware of it when entering the T-Mobile store next week if I hadn't read this.
It's extremely irritating when you enter a phone store thinking you only have to pay 1 euro for the phone and 45 euro every month, and then find out standing right in front of the sales assistant with an iPhone in your hand, that you have to pay 26 euro extra if you really want to get through.
I * was * surprised by the attractiveness of the Dutch plans, and I still am as a matter of fact, but this kind of sneaky constructions make T-Mobile and their iPhone feel a lot worse than they did.
The same holds for the sneaky outrageous prices for data roaming.
I've been a reasonably happy T-Mobile customer for years (good price and almost never any technical problems anywhere), but my experience is that you have to be really alert, which means that you have to check your accounts very carefully every month, and see if you don't pay for things you don't want and still have their most advantageous offering. "Het venijn zit in de details".
What I *do* like though, is the royal amount of SMS messages you get, because I already was a heavy texter, but with the iPhone I'm going to SMS like there's no tomorrow.
You have no reason to complain. Even on the cheapest plan, you are getting the phone itself for for less than any other country on their base plan, and almost half of what Steve Jobs announced to the world at the WWDC.
You have no reason to complain. Even on the cheapest plan, you are getting the phone itself for for less than any other country on their base plan, and almost half of what Steve Jobs announced to the world at the WWDC.
Sure, in the end I think it's a very good deal.
I was only complaining about the sneaky way this activation fee went. Not just T-Mobile but so many others as well. I hate pricing tricks being played on me.
Yeah.. the iPhone plan/contract here in the netherlands is very sweet.
But i am allready a T-Mobile customer, and i CAN'T upgrade to an iPhone, and some other telco's do/did offer an iPhone upgrade deal for their own customers. and that plain sucks!\
I hope T-Mobile NL changes it's mind about their own customers, for the time being... i'm stuck with my blackberry till 2010.
(On a side note, I heard that you guys in the US pay for incoming texts as well. If that is true, that is really insane. You can't even choose whether you want to receive them! Someone could spam you with 1000 messages and you'd have to pay a fortune! Needless to say, you also don't need to pay for receiving texts outside of North America).
Rogers (Canada) does not charge for incoming text messages.
In fact, it looks as if you don't have to subscribe to a Data Plan:
"Data Usage Your iPhone will be enabled for data usage. If you subscribe to a plan with no data included, data charges at a pay-per-use rate of 5¢/KB for data sent and/or received over the Rogers network will apply, unless you subscribe to a data plan, which we highly recommend." javascript:void%20srPopup('/cms/html/iphone_terms.shtml','','width=400,height=400,scrol lbars=1,resizable=1');
Does any of you know were is going to be sold in the Netherlands...other then the official T-Mobile stores?
Thanks in advance.
Quote:
Originally Posted by T-Mobile NL website
Waar kan ik de iPhone kopen?
Vanaf vrijdag 11 juli is iPhone3G verkrijgbaar via de 80 T-Mobile Shops, Apple Premium Resellers, de winkels van Belcompany, Mediamarkt, Saturn, The Phone House en natuurlijk onze eigen online shop via www.t-mobile.nl. Daarnaast is het toestel ook verkrijgbaar via de Telesalesafdelingen van Klantenservice. Voor particulieren kan dat via 0800-7111 en voor zakelijke klanten 0800-8102 of via de account manager.
Comments
Keep in mind that the prices are hard to compare at the moment with the weak dollar.
The ?29,95 is comparable to a $29,95 pricetag in the US.
I was thrilled when I heard that the iPhone was coming to the Netherlands, only to be disillusioned when I heard that T-Mobile would be the carrier. In other countries T-Mobile might be up to par (I lived in Chicago, and T-Mobile was quite OK there), but in the Netherlands T-Mobile is one of the worst providers. T-Mobile is mainly used by schoolkids, mainly because of the low costs. The businesses won't touch T-Mobile with a 10-foot stick. I have tried them for 2 months and paid them to get out of the contract... many dropped calls, no reception in my house and at my work (where I spend 80% of my time)... And I live and work in downtown Amsterdam, an area where you would expect a carrier to excel.
That is why I find it odd that a company as Apple, that puts a high priority in user-experience, selected a party like T-Mobile Netherlands. This while Vodafone is the partner of choice in other countries, and one of the number-1 carriers in The Netherlands.
Well, T-Mobile network did get better with them taking over the Orange network in the Netherlands. Where I used to have low signal in my home, I now have full signal. It is still not the best, but it certainly is better than it used to be one year ago. HSDPA coverage has also improved in the last year, but still weak 3G next to KPN and Vodafone. Yes, cheap comes at a price.
WHAT IS GOING ON IN DENMARK??
I can understand that they have to unlock after 6 months, so they try to get in the subsidy in that period, but two things really cancel that out as fair:
1) They are charging $300 USD for the 8GB iphone, which means it is hardly subsidized compared to Netherlands and other European countries, even acknowledging that Apple is most likely charging a very high wholesale price to carriers in Europe.
2) Even after the 6 months of being charged $120 USD, you are STILL CHARGED $80/month USD for only 300 minutes and 300 MB of data??????? The unlimited text is nice, but hardly a consolation for such a rip-off fee.
What is this carrier thinking? Are the normal fees in Denmark outrageous? I would have to assume not! I feel bad for the people in my ancestral homeland! Go Sjælland! lol
Actually, believe it or not, Denmark and Finland have the cheapest mobile prices. Yes this plan is crazy. Telia's HSPDA coverage really sucks in comparision to 3 and TDC/Vodafone, and the speed is max. 3,6 Mbit (probably only in Copenhagen)
Some standard prices in Denmark (in £, much easier to calculate):
- £20 for unlimited data / mobile broadband (speed ranges from 3,6Mbit-7,2Mbit, 14-20 Mbit with 3 later this year)
- £7 for Unlimitied SMS/MMS
- With no plan, a minute is typically £0,06, a sms is £0,01, 1 MB is £0,1. No connection fee.
Go Holland!I am Dutch, and I think our rate plan is very good.
Actually, it's even better then you think, because the activation fee is reduced with 50%, so no 52,50 euros, but just 26,25 euros.!!!
It's extremely irritating when you enter a phone store thinking you only have to pay 1 euro for the phone and 45 euro every month, and then find out standing right in front of the sales assistant with an iPhone in your hand, that you have to pay 26 euro extra if you really want to get through.
I * was * surprised by the attractiveness of the Dutch plans, and I still am as a matter of fact, but this kind of sneaky constructions make T-Mobile and their iPhone feel a lot worse than they did.
The same holds for the sneaky outrageous prices for data roaming.
I've been a reasonably happy T-Mobile customer for years (good price and almost never any technical problems anywhere), but my experience is that you have to be really alert, which means that you have to check your accounts very carefully every month, and see if you don't pay for things you don't want and still have their most advantageous offering. "Het venijn zit in de details".
What I *do* like though, is the royal amount of SMS messages you get, because I already was a heavy texter, but with the iPhone I'm going to SMS like there's no tomorrow.
Netherlands. Beautiful country. Beautifully small. Real small. Twice the size of New Jersey.
So I gather when you are getting screwed, size does matter.
The reason we're being screwed less than many other countries is that 3G is already old here and blackberries already are business commodities.
Until I saw these plans, I gave iPhone very little chance to catch up. Now it might.
btw
EU-27 cartogram: member states distorted to represent population density
You have no reason to complain. Even on the cheapest plan, you are getting the phone itself for for less than any other country on their base plan, and almost half of what Steve Jobs announced to the world at the WWDC.
Sure, in the end I think it's a very good deal.
I was only complaining about the sneaky way this activation fee went. Not just T-Mobile but so many others as well. I hate pricing tricks being played on me.
But i am allready a T-Mobile customer, and i CAN'T upgrade to an iPhone, and some other telco's do/did offer an iPhone upgrade deal for their own customers. and that plain sucks!
I hope T-Mobile NL changes it's mind about their own customers, for the time being... i'm stuck with my blackberry till 2010.
(On a side note, I heard that you guys in the US pay for incoming texts as well. If that is true, that is really insane. You can't even choose whether you want to receive them! Someone could spam you with 1000 messages and you'd have to pay a fortune! Needless to say, you also don't need to pay for receiving texts outside of North America).
Rogers (Canada) does not charge for incoming text messages.
In fact, it looks as if you don't have to subscribe to a Data Plan:
"Data Usage Your iPhone will be enabled for data usage. If you subscribe to a plan with no data included, data charges at a pay-per-use rate of 5¢/KB for data sent and/or received over the Rogers network will apply, unless you subscribe to a data plan, which we highly recommend." javascript:void%20srPopup('/cms/html/iphone_terms.shtml','','width=400,height=400,scrol lbars=1,resizable=1');
The reason we're being screwed less than many other countries is that 3G is already old here and blackberries already are business commodities.
Until I saw these plans, I gave iPhone very little chance to catch up. Now it might.
btw
EU-27 cartogram: member states distorted to represent population density
P.S. Just to make it perfectly clear, nobody said anything about the Netherlands being screwed, including myself and min-t to whom I was responding.
Thanks in advance.
Does any of you know were is going to be sold in the Netherlands...other then the official T-Mobile stores?
Thanks in advance.
Waar kan ik de iPhone kopen?
Vanaf vrijdag 11 juli is iPhone3G verkrijgbaar via de 80 T-Mobile Shops, Apple Premium Resellers, de winkels van Belcompany, Mediamarkt, Saturn, The Phone House en natuurlijk onze eigen online shop via www.t-mobile.nl. Daarnaast is het toestel ook verkrijgbaar via de Telesalesafdelingen van Klantenservice. Voor particulieren kan dat via 0800-7111 en voor zakelijke klanten 0800-8102 of via de account manager.
src= http://www.t-mobile.nl/iphone/faq.html