Apple and T-Mobile have released information about the rate plans for the iPhone in Germany, so if you’re in Germany, and interested in buying an iPhone, we’re guessing you will be quite interested. All plans include unlimited data (of course), Visual Voicemail (right), and access to T-Mobile’s 8000 Wi-Fi hot spots in Germany—whaaa? This is, on the face of it, roughly the same deal as Apple struck with O2 in the UK, and which our fearless leader Mr. Snell mourned the lack of in the US.
In terms of phone usage, however, that €49 gets you just 100 minutes and 40 text messages. You can also shell out €69 to jump up to 200 minutes and 150 text messages, or €89 for the grand daddy of 1000 minutes and 300 text messages. I’m not sure exactly how this compares to what German phone users usually get—a quick check of T-Mobile Germany’s site (thoughtfully rendered into English) shows a 100 minute plan going for €28, a 200 minute plan for €38, and a 1000 minute plan for €68. And, of course, the iPhone plans get you some text messages, unlimited data, and hot spots thrown in, which doesn’t seem too shabby.
What say you, readers from Deutschland? Outrageous or in line with your usual prices?
Keep in mind, that we don't have to pay for incoming calls, so the minutes refer to outgoing calls only. The prices are outrageous nonetheless. In addition you have to sign the contract in the T-Punkt stores (which explains why it's not sold through the German Apple onlinestore), only activation is through iTunes.
From what Ive heard (from the Swedish Macworld), T-mobile does not include unlimited data use. With T-mobiles free W-LAN stations and there EDGE connection, a costumer can not exceed 200 MB (Complete M), 1 GB (Complete L) or 5 GB (Complete XL) data / month. If a costumer exeed, the connection will be shrinked to 64 kbit / second
You hit it on the nose. What T-mobile is offering in the way of iPhone rate plans is considerably more expensive than what one can get with a subsidized handy (cell) & one of their numerous rate plans, combined with a data plan. But for those who want the iPhone, this won't matter that much. There will be a lot of nagging by many but the cool factor will play the leading role here.
I myself can wait for the 3G version (next spring?), and believe that T-mobile will tweak the rate plans again at that time, depending on how well the iPhone has sold for the first 4-6 months.
Grüß
Michael
(in Darmstadt, Germany)
Does anybody know who does the activation in Europe? I thought it was so easy to activate through synchronoss...it was great, would they do this in Europe?
Thanks
Hi Gerald,
what or who is "synchronoss...it was great"?
Never heard of it
Michael,
Sorry. I should have clarified they are the company that handles the activation process, or at least receive fees for doing so. I was wondering who handled it because I didn't have to wait. I could activate the phone anywhere I wanted to.
Thanks.