#332-iPhone 3G tariffs in UK vs. Malaysia.

Alas, the iPhone 3G has finally landed on Malaysian shores, almost a year after it's release in July 2008. It's no point for me getting it in Malaysia, because here in the UK, the iPhone is much much cheaper and the price plans are better. But anyways, I just wanted to tell my readers about the iPhone 3G in Malaysia.

A brief insight into the UK pricing first. In the UK, the iPhone is available on the O2 network only and all the iPhone on contracts have 18-month plans. There are four plans to choose from which is;

1.) £30 (RM159.60) a month for 18-months.

The iPhone 8GB is £99 (RM526.68) and the 16GB goes for £159 (RM845.88).
For that price, you get 75 minutes and 125 texts, unlimited data and Wi-Fi, visual voicemail and reduced roaming rates.

2.) £35 (RM186.20) a month for 18-months.

The whole package is the same as the £30/month, just that one gets 600 minutes and 500 texts.

3.) £45 (RM239.40) a month for 18-months.

In this plan, the iPhone 8GB is FREE, and one is to pay £59 (RM313.88) for the 16GB.
You get 1200 minutes and 500 texts, unlimited data and Wi-Fi, visual voicemail and reduced roaming rates.

4.) £75 (RM399.00) a month for 18-months.

This plan sees both the 8GB and 16GB iPhones free, and the only other difference from the £35/month and £45/month plans is the 3000 minutes talktime. The rest is the same.

Alternatively in the UK, you can also get the iPhone on Pay & Go which to Malaysians is called pre-paid.

The 8GB retails for £342.50 (RM1822.10) and the 16GB retails for £391.45 (RM2082.51) and you get unlimited browsing and Wi-Fi for the first 12-months of the iPhone purchase.

In Malaysia, the iPhone is available on the Maxis network in 6-month, 12-month and 24-month contract plans which are named Value Plus Plans, iValue Plans 12-months and iValue Plans 24-months respectively. In each contract plans, the are four categories to choose from.

Let's start with the 6-month contract plans or called the Value Plus Plans;

In all 6-month contract plans, the iPhone 8GB retails for RM2540 (£477.44) and the 16GB for RM2960 (£556.39) and one will get 500MB of data for the entire contract period.

1.) Value Plus 80

One pays RM80 (£15.04)/month for 6-months, 12 sens a minute for voice calls from Maxis-to-Maxis numbers and 15 sens a minute for voice calls from Maxis-to-non Maxis numbers.

2.) Value Plus 150

It is RM150 (£28.20)/month for 6-months, 10sens/minute for voice calls from Maxis-to-Maxis numbers and 12sens/minute for voice calls from Maxis-to-non Maxis numbers.

3.) Value Plus 250

It costs RM250 (£46.99)/month and it's 10sens/minute for all voice calls to mobile numbers, whether it's Maxis or not.

4.) Value Plus 500

It's the same 10sens/minute for all voice calls to mobile numbers regardless of network and one is to pay RM500 (£93.99)/month.

On to the iValue 12-month contract plans. There are four plans, iValue 1 to 4.

1.) iValue 1

It is RM100 (£18.80)/month, the iPhone 8GB costs RM1900 (£357.14), the 16GB RM2290 (£430.45), one will have 333 minutes, additional 15sens/minute for a call if exceeded 333 minutes, 500MB of data and it's 0.5sen/KB if the data usage exceeds 500MB. The texts are 10sens/text. A person also needs to pay RM200 (£37.59) in advance.

2.) iValue 2

It is RM155 (£29.14)/month, the iPhone 8GB retails for RM1780 (£334.59), the iPhone 16GB retails for RM2160 (£406.02). This plan gets you 667 minutes/month with an additional charge of 12sens/min if the limit is exceeded. The texts are 10sens/text. One gets 1GB of data/month, and will have to pay 0.5sen/KB for additional data. And the advance payment is RM200 (£37.59).

3.) iValue 3

It monthly commitment is RM250 (£46.99). The 8GB is RM1490 (£280.08) and the 16GB is RM1870 (£351.50). 1500 minutes a month, 10sens/text, 2GB of data a month, 10sens/minutes for additional calls out of the 1500 minutes, and 0.5sen/KB for additional data usage. One has to pay RM500 (£93.98) in advance.

4.) iValue 4

The price is RM375 (£70.49)/month, the 8GB costs RM1080 (£203.01) and the 16GB RM1470 (£276.32). One gets 2500 minutes, 10sen/text, and 3GB a month for data in this plan. The cost for additional minutes and data is the same as iValues 1, 2 and 3. RM1000 (£187.97) is the amount to pay for the advance payment.

iValue 24-month contract plans is the longest plan for the iPhone in Malaysia.

For all iValue 24-month plans, iValue 1-4, the number of minutes, the amount of data, the cost of additional minutes and data, and the price of a text is the same as the iValue 1-4 on 12-month plans. The monthly commitment prices are also the same.

The only differences are;

1.) iValue 1

iPhone 8GB - RM1510 (£283.83)
iPhone 16GB - RM 1890 (£355.26)
Advanced payment - RM 400 (£75.19)

2.) iValue 2

iPhone 8GB - RM1260 (£236.84)
iPhone 16GB - RM1640 (£308.27)
Advanced payment - RM620 (£116.54)

3.) iValue 3

iPhone 8GB - RM680 (£127.82)
iPhone 16GB - RM1060 (£199.25)
Advanced payment - RM1250 (£234.96)

4.) iValue 4

iPhone 8GB is free.
iPhone 16GB - RM260 (£48.87)
Advanced payment - RM2000 (£375.94)

All I can summarise from what you can see above is, the iPhone in the UK is more value-for-money than the one which will be going on sale in Malaysia today.

iTunes playing Amy Pearson - Don't Miss You.
Sent from my MacBook Pro.