Optus has released its pricing plans for the new iPhone 3G S ahead of the device’s release on Friday, with the new 32GB version of the device being offered for just $99 per month.
The telco is now Australia’s first to release pricing for the device, and comes alongside reports from the US showing one million devices have already been sold since its American launch last Friday.
Optus will offer the 3G S on plans ranging from $19 per month, which includes $50 worth of calls and 10MB of data, to $79 per month, including $610 worth of calls and 1GB of data. Extra data packs can be purchased for an additional cost.
But the company will be marketing its $99 per month plan as its main offer, which includes unlimited texts and calls and 1.5GB of data.
However, this new offer is only available to “consumer customers as defined by Optus”, the company says, and that it “applies to standard personal calls and texts and are not to be used for commercial purposes”.
The $99 per month plan carries no monthly handset fee, but the cheaper plans carry fees from $0 up to $34 for a 32GB device on the $19 plan.
The iPhone 3G S will be released on Friday, 26 June, with Optus, VHA’s Vodafone and Telstra all confirming they will carry the new device.
But in a surprise move, VHA’s 3 has confirmed it will carry the new 3G S model from July after completing its recent merger. Pricing has yet to be released for any carriers apart from Optus.
Meanwhile, Apple has said it sold more than one million devices in the first three days of the iPhone 3G S’s launch – the same amount of time in which the previous model, the iPhone 3G, sold its first million devices.
“Customers are voting, and the iPhone is winning,” chief executive Steve Jobs said in the statement. “With over 50,000 applications available from Apple’s revolutionary App store, iPhone momentum is stronger than ever.”
The new 3G S offers a faster processor, video recording, longer battery life, voice command capabilities and a built-in compass.
Patrick Stafford is a freelance journalist and a former deputy editor of SmartCompany.
