June 9th, 2008
iPhone 3G: The official rates from AT&T
Now that the iPhone 3G announcement has finally come and gone, turns out the most common rumors were right — big price drop, GPS, slightly thicker, Exchange-friendly out of the box, not immediately available — others not so much (nope, no (Product) RED version. My colleague Matthew Miller has some great open questions, some of which I take a stab at below.
As for contract requirements, according to an AT&T spokesperson, current AT&T customers will be treated like new AT&T customers when it comes to the iPhone 3G. All will receive the same $199/$299 pricing - the only difference is that existing customers will reset their contract period to two years. That’s a surprisingly decent move on their part, since it means that many folks — myself included — will be able to receive two carrier-subsidized handsets within a one-year period.
Not shockingly, AT&T’s iPhone rate plans are going up for 3G owners. Today, owners of first-generation iPhone users pay far less for voice+data plans than owners of other PDAs/Smartphones do. While the lowest rate plan for the original iPhone was $59.99 (for 450 anytime minutes, plus unlimited data), iPhone 3G users will pay for their voice and data separately, with a combined plan starting at $69.99.
Personal accounts will need pay $30 per month for unlimited 3G data, while business accounts will pay $45 per user. One item to note: You can still access your company’s Exchange server if you have a personal account.
Of course, you’ll also need to sign up for a voice account, plans are as follows:
- 450 minutes: $39.99
- 900 minutes: $59.99
- 1,350 minutes: $79.99
- Unlimited: $99.99
Family plans are also available, at:
- 700 minutes: $69.99
- 1,400 minutes: $89.99
- 2,100 minutes: 109.99
- 3,000 minutes: $149.99
- Unlimited minutes: $199.99
(Note: You’ll need to add $10 per line to the family rates above).
As for some of Matthew’s other questions, I think it may be safe to assume we know the answers to at least a few of them. One would think if the iPhone 3G had video capabilities, Jobs would have mentioned it at the WWDC; ditto for cut/copy/paste functionality, which would have been a huge crowd-pleaser. On the postive front, at least those omissions give us bloggers something to speculate about. So, I hear the next iPhone may have video. And cut and paste functionality. And come in fuscia, orange, and paisley.
Josh Taylor is director of CBS Interactive Business' technology sites – ZDNet and TechRepublic. See his full profile and disclosure of his industry affiliations.
