KEY POINTS:
Vodafone this morning announced the pricing plans for iPhone 3G, which goes on sale after midnight on Thursday.
Its website went down as Kiwis clamoured to get information on the new device.
New Zealand will be the first territory to offer the second generation Apple phone for
sale, as it is rolled out around the world on July 11.
The phone will start at $199 for a two-year plan, with three different options getting progressively more expensive.
A petition against the pricing of the iPhone 3G is already online here. (Be warned, some of the language in the petition comments will be offensive to some readers).
To buy the iPhone outright will cost $979 for the 8G model, or $1129 for the 16GB.
The iPhone 250MB plan means the biggest 'on account' price for the handset, and costs $80 per month. On this plan, there's 250MB of data, 120 minutes of talktime and 600 text messages. An 8G version will cost $549 and the 16GB version a hefty $699.
The $130 per month iPhone 500MB option puts the 8GB at $449 and the 16MB at $599. It gives users 250 minutes of voice, 600 texts and 500MB of data.
To get the iPhone 3G for the magic $199 price point that Apple boss Steve Jobs talked about when it was revealed at the company's Worldwide Development Conference, means forking out $250 per month. The iPhone 1GB plan obviously comes with a gigabyte of data, but ups the oncall minutes to 600 MB. The 600 outgoing SMS remains the same as other plans.
The 8GB handset will cost $199 and the 16GB will cost $349.
Overflow charges are 10 cents per megabyte for the 250MB and 500MB plans, and 3 cents on the already-expensive 1GB plan. Call minutes above plan limits will cost 69 cents on the 250MB plan, 55 cents on the middle plan and 53 cents on the 1GB plan. Extra texts are 20 cents across all plans.
Despite some reports to the contrary, prepay users will be left out when it comes to using the iPhone 3G in New Zealand. iPhone-specific SIM cards will mean that only account holders will be able to use the device, and that it simply won't work on pre-pay, according to a Vodafone spokesperson.
But other account users can use them by purchasing a full-price handset, and adding on of Vodafone's mobile broadband plans, which start from $29.95 for 200MB for the term of the existing plan.
Three Vodafone stores will open at one minute past midnight on Friday - Queen Street (Auckland), Lambton Quay (Wellington) and Colombo Street in Christchurch.
The phone will allow faster internet than its predecessor using Vodafone's 3G network, which the company says covers 63 per cent of New Zealanders.
The first iPhone was not offered for sale in New Zealand, although there are estimated to be thousands of 'hacked' versions of the device already in use here.
