iPhone 3G plans start at $25 in Switzerland, $50 in Finland

Posted:
in iPhone edited January 2014
Swisscom announced Tuesday four distinct service plans for Apple's iPhone 3G starting at $25 USD, though none of them include air time minutes. Separately, Sonera of Finland said its own iPhone plans will start at $50 USD and include minutes.



Switzerland's Swisscom



Swisscom said mobile subscribers can purchase an entry-level iPhone 3G service plan for just $25 (CHF 25) a month that will subsidize the cost of the 8GB model to $245 (CHF 249) and the 16GB model to $343 (CHF 349). The plan includes 100MB of data and charges users 68 cents (CHF 0.70) for each hour of talk time.



A $34 (CHF 35) plan offers the 8GB iPhone at $196 (CHF 199) and the 16GB model at $249 (CHF 299). It includes 200MB of data and charges 49 cents (CHF 0.50) for every hour of talk time. Meanwhile, a top-tier plan for $54 (CHF 55) reduces the cost of the 8GB iPhone to $97 (CHF 99) and the 16GB model to $196 (CHF 199) while including 1000MB of data and a charge of 49 cents (CHF 0.50) per minute. Each plan requires a 24-month contract and also includes visual voicemail and free access to more than 1,100 hotspots across Switzerland.



Swisscom also said it will offer a pre-paid option to its customers that will charge 79 cents (CHF 0.80) per hour for talk time and 98 cents (CHF 1) per megabyte of data. Customers who choose this option can purchase a 8GB iPhone for the non-subsidized price of $510 (CHF 519) or a 16GB model for $609 (CHF 619).



iPhone 3G service plans offered by Swisscom in Switzerland.



Finland's Sonera



Over in Finland, Sonera said its customers can adopt iPhone 3G for as little as $50 (31.69 euro) per month under a plan that will offer the 8GB model at $250 (159 euro) or the 16GB model at $385 (245 euro). The plan includes 100 minutes, 100 SMS messages and 100 MB of data.



An $81 (51.49 euro) plan offers the 8GB iPhone at $125 (79 euro) and the 16GB model at $260 (165 euro) while including 250 minutes, 250 SMS messages, and 250 MB of data. For $142 (89.99 euro), customers can choose an 8GB iPhone for $1.58 (1 euro) or 16GB iPhone for $134 (85 euro) and get 1000 minutes, 1000 SMS messages, and 1000MB of data. All three plans require a 24-month contract.



Sonera will also make available an "I Sonera" pay-as-you-go option that prices the 8GB iPhone at $675 (429 euro) and 16GB iPhone at $817 (519 euro). Under this plan, customers will be charged 12 cents (0.079 euro) per minute for talk time or each SMS message, and $2.35 (1.49 euro) per megabyte of data.



iPhone 3G service plans offered by Sonera in Finland.



Readers can compare these plans to those recently announced by Rogers of Canada, TeliaSonera of Sweden, Netcom of Norway, and 3 of Hong Kong.
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Comments

  • Reply 1 of 22
    aaargh!aaargh! Posts: 20member
    Dutch plans have also been announced



    EUR 29,95 for 150 minutes/150 SMS, 8GB phone for 79,95 16GB for 159,95

    EUR 44,95 for 300 minutes/300 SMS, 8GB phone for 1,- 16GB for 79,95

    EUR 64,95 for 500 minutes/500 SMS, 8GB phone for 1,- 16GB for 19,95



    All with unlimited 2048/384 HSDPA



    see www.tmobile.nl
  • Reply 2 of 22
    myrskymyrsky Posts: 4member
    Just for information purposes, as I already mentioned in earlier thread, the Sonera plans are really, really expensive compared to the general price level of mobile communicating in Finland.
  • Reply 3 of 22
    It should also be noted that the plan price is not the only revenue stream for most European carriers - they ding anyone who calls the phone about $.30 a minute (!!!), at least in France and Switzerland. Thus the lower rates.



    Ugh.
  • Reply 4 of 22
    ktappektappe Posts: 823member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Prufrock View Post


    Ugh.



    "Ugh" all you like, but I'd gladly take any of these European plans over what AT&T is going to nail us for in the U.S. I've been waiting 5 years for an iPhone and after seeing what AT&T is charging, I may end up waiting even longer. I have the money to pay the myriad of fees--It's the principle that's going to stop me. AT&T is charging exorbitant rates and for features that should not cost extra, and I have no desire to hand them a single dollar, let alone $1500.
  • Reply 5 of 22
    samabsamab Posts: 1,953member
    Swisscom's website is hard to understand.



    There is a little "*" on the voice rates --- which points down to --- it's a MINUTE rate, not hourly rate.



    http://iphone3g.swisscom.ch/?page=1&lang=en
  • Reply 6 of 22
    min_tmin_t Posts: 74member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by ktappe View Post


    "Ugh" all you like, but I'd gladly take any of these European plans over what AT&T is going to nail us for in the U.S. I've been waiting 5 years for an iPhone and after seeing what AT&T is charging, I may end up waiting even longer. I have the money to pay the myriad of fees--It's the principle that's going to stop me. AT&T is charging exorbitant rates and for features that should not cost extra, and I have no desire to hand them a single dollar, let alone $1500.



    What crackberry 'ave you been inhaling. 5-year wait for the iPhone. Where you there in the R&D lab when the iPhone idea was developed. Quit contributing negative chi on the iPhone experience with FUD data
  • Reply 7 of 22
    min_tmin_t Posts: 74member
    Why do we keep hearing that Europeans have better, cheaper, more widespread cell service? From these iPhone price plans, it sounds like the have the same service provider as our northern Canadian friends do.



    Do the Europeans make more money, thus, can pay for these service plans?
  • Reply 8 of 22
    aaargh!aaargh! Posts: 20member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by min_t View Post


    Why do we keep hearing that Europeans have better, cheaper, more widespread cell service? From these iPhone price plans, it sounds like the have the same service provider as our northern Canadian friends do. (...)



    The dutch price plan seems pretty reasonable to me.
  • Reply 9 of 22
    brlawyerbrlawyer Posts: 828member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Prufrock View Post


    It should also be noted that the plan price is not the only revenue stream for most European carriers - they ding anyone who calls the phone about $.30 a minute (!!!), at least in France and Switzerland. Thus the lower rates.



    Ugh.



    I work in Switzerland and this is NOT correct, unless Swisscom started this thing today. And I can easily say that NOBODY is charged for receiving calls in Europe, contrary to the obsolete practices of the US; I repeat, NOBODY, unless you are talking about roaming charges...



    It's a pity I am stuck with Sunrise, because Swisscom's plans are not that bad AT ALL...
  • Reply 10 of 22
    sapporobabysapporobaby Posts: 1,079member
    There is an easy way to beat the Finnish rates and I have done it. I confirmed with Sonera customer service.



    As I already own a Sonera SIM card, I simply use my current plan of: 500 mins, 500 SMS, unlimited data, and Homerun wifi. Combined this is cheaper than their middle pricing tariff. The lady at customer service was a bit astounded that Sonera did not think of this before hand and force people to change their contracts.



    For the most part, the people I have spoken to about the iPhone said Sonera can shove it if it comes locked.



    I thinks me smells a bunch of lawsuits coming.
  • Reply 11 of 22
    vecafurvecafur Posts: 1member
    When comparing the iPhone service plans, please, keep in mind that incoming calls are usually free in Europe. The caller pays the whole call, the callee (is that a word?) pays nothing.



    Here, in Finland, incoming calls are always free if the receiver is in Finland. If the receiver (with a Finnish mobile number) happens to be abroad, he/she pays something for incoming calls - BUT even then these incoming calls do NOT consume minutes of his/her service plan.





    A couple of things to point out about iPhone & Sonera (TeliaSonera) in Finland...



    - Sonera's special iPhone service plans include free & unlimited WLAN usage in TeliaSonera's HomeRun WLAN network in Nordic/Baltic countries.



    - The Pay-As-You-Go option Minun Sonera (My Sonera, not I Sonera) requires also a 24-month contract with the iPhone. (Normally, My Sonera requires a 12/24-month contract only with a subsidized phone. Except for iPhone, you can end your contract any time with a non-subsidized phone.)



    - For the My Sonera option, there are several service plans for calls/SMSs/data - besides the pricing mentioned in the article. Call packages varies from €4,90 for 50 minutes (per month) to €127,90 for 4000 minutes. SMSs cost from €1,90 for 50 messages to €11,90 for 1000 messages. There are also MMS packages.



    - Prices of data plans varies much, too. One option is to pay €3,90 for every beginning 20 MBs of data traffic. Unlimited data plans cost €14,90 (512 Kbps), €24,80 (1Mbps) or €34,80 (3,6Mbps).



    - Other data plans include €0,90 for every beginning hour of data traffic (max. €6,90 for period of 24 hours) and €2,90 for every beginning period of 24 hours of data traffic.



    - It's free to change call/SMS plan to a more expensive one - but €9,90 for changing to a cheaper one. Changing a data plan costs from €0 to €7,90. (Usually -50% if the change is done via Sonera's web page.)



    - There are no restrictions for how the call/SMS/MMS/data plans can combined.





    Thus, there are several service plans for iPhone in Finland.
  • Reply 12 of 22
    astra4astra4 Posts: 46member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by brlawyer View Post


    I work in Switzerland and this is NOT correct, unless Swisscom started this thing today. And I can easily say that NOBODY is charged for receiving calls in Europe, contrary to the obsolete practices of the US; I repeat, NOBODY, unless you are talking about roaming charges...



    It's a pity I am stuck with Sunrise, because Swisscom's plans are not that bad AT ALL...



    Hmm, I think he was saying that the one who makes a call to the mobile phone has to pay more.



    That seems to be correct, calls to mobile phones cost more than calls to ordinary wire-connected phones.



    I always thought that was true all over the world?
  • Reply 13 of 22
    brlawyerbrlawyer Posts: 828member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by astra4 View Post


    Hmm, I think he was saying that the one who makes a call to the mobile phone has to pay more.



    That seems to be correct, calls to mobile phones cost more than calls to ordinary wire-connected phones.



    I always thought that was true all over the world?



    If he was talking about rates for CALLING mobile phones, this is normally true, unless the caller is also calling from Swisscom phones...in this case, same-carrier calls normally cost nothing.
  • Reply 14 of 22
    sapporobabysapporobaby Posts: 1,079member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by vecafur View Post


    When comparing the iPhone service plans, please, keep in mind that incoming calls are usually free in Europe. The caller pays the whole call, the callee (is that a word?) pays nothing.



    Here, in Finland, incoming calls are always free if the receiver is in Finland. If the receiver (with a Finnish mobile number) happens to be abroad, he/she pays something for incoming calls - BUT even then these incoming calls do NOT consume minutes of his/her service plan.





    A couple of things to point out about iPhone & Sonera (TeliaSonera) in Finland...



    - Sonera's special iPhone service plans include free & unlimited WLAN usage in TeliaSonera's HomeRun WLAN network in Nordic/Baltic countries.



    - The Pay-As-You-Go option Minun Sonera (My Sonera, not I Sonera) requires also a 24-month contract with the iPhone. (Normally, My Sonera requires a 12/24-month contract only with a subsidized phone. Except for iPhone, you can end your contract any time with a non-subsidized phone.)



    - For the My Sonera option, there are several service plans for calls/SMSs/data - besides the pricing mentioned in the article. Call packages varies from ?4,90 for 50 minutes (per month) to ?127,90 for 4000 minutes. SMSs cost from ?1,90 for 50 messages to ?11,90 for 1000 messages. There are also MMS packages.



    - Prices of data plans varies much, too. One option is to pay ?3,90 for every beginning 20 MBs of data traffic. Unlimited data plans cost ?14,90 (512 Kbps), ?24,80 (1Mbps) or ?34,80 (3,6Mbps).



    - Other data plans include ?0,90 for every beginning hour of data traffic (max. ?6,90 for period of 24 hours) and ?2,90 for every beginning period of 24 hours of data traffic.



    - It's free to change call/SMS plan to a more expensive one - but ?9,90 for changing to a cheaper one. Changing a data plan costs from ?0 to ?7,90. (Usually -50% if the change is done via Sonera's web page.)



    - There are no restrictions for how the call/SMS/MMS/data plans can combined.





    Thus, there are several service plans for iPhone in Finland.



    Terve,



    Are you here in Helsinki somewhere?
  • Reply 15 of 22
    sapporobabysapporobaby Posts: 1,079member
    By the way, has anyone posted a list of all the locked and unlocked countries?
  • Reply 16 of 22
    samabsamab Posts: 1,953member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by sapporobaby View Post


    By the way, has anyone posted a list of all the locked and unlocked countries?



    I don't think anyone knows --- all the press releases so far are far from clear.



    I think most websites jumped the gun by equating PAYG iphones as unlocked iphones.
  • Reply 17 of 22
    samabsamab Posts: 1,953member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by brlawyer View Post


    If he was talking about rates for CALLING mobile phones, this is normally true, unless the caller is also calling from Swisscom phones...in this case, same-carrier calls normally cost nothing.



    What he meant was that --- swisscom charges 0.50-0.80 CHF per hour for an iphone to call a fellow swisscom mobils user or a swiss fixed line number.



    But swisscom charges 0.50-0.80 CHF per MINUTE for an iphone to call other mobile users on other mobile networks in their own country.
  • Reply 18 of 22
    hattighattig Posts: 860member
    Hmm, if I was in Switzerland, I'd be getting an iPhone. 8GB for 1 Euro, enough data transfer for most people, free wifi hotspots, and just pay for the calls/texts you make, at a reasonable rate? Sign me up. And my friends, so they're on the same network!



    To be honest, the O2 deal isn't the worst in the world.



    But the AT&T plans would leave most Europeans anally bleeding. No texts in the default package? Bye.
  • Reply 19 of 22
    samabsamab Posts: 1,953member
    The difference between AT&T's $70 price plan and Swisscom's $54 price plan:



    1) 4 GB more in data.

    2) 450 minutes off net minutes

    3) rollover minutes

    4) 5000 minutes on net mobile to mobile without 0.5 CHF per hour (that's $83)

    5) unlimited weekends/nights
  • Reply 20 of 22
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Myrsky View Post


    Just for information purposes, as I already mentioned in earlier thread, the Sonera plans are really, really expensive compared to the general price level of mobile communicating in Finland.



    Hello Myrsky,



    I think same way as You ;

    because my existing contract is 1000 minutes/costs 35,80 € (with 100 text-messages) per month (in 24 months it would be 859,20 €) and phone (Nokia 6233) was something like 400 € (even together 859,20+400 = 1259,20/24 months > would be 52,46 €/month). But Soneras teleprices are much too high; now I have 0,0358 € per minute, and in Soneras new deal it would be something like 0,079 € per minutes + 0,049 € to start every call.. !!!



    for exampel:

    Soneras "LARGE- deal" : 89,99 €/month + 85 € for 16 Gb´s iPhone for (24 monts) >

    money to phone for 24 months = 2244,76 € !!! ; 1000 min/month; 1000 text-messages and 1000 Mb/month with HomeRun.



    * What else can You do with 2244,76 Euros ?



    * Is the deal with Sonera really worth 2-3x more money ?? just for using phone ? (859,20 € (1259.20 with phoneprice) contra 2244,76 €) ?



    ; offcourse the MySonera with for exampel 800 min would bring the price more near to my 0,0358 €/min but then there would only be possibily to talk (200min/month, less) with this new iPhone. More costs comes in data-sending, and text-messages, and all the way (all together), prices are MUCH TOO high for finnish (privat) consumer.



    FelixFinland
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