Telecom enter the iPhone market with SIM-only offer

Telecom Launch iPhone Offer

Telecom’s new XT Network, a 100% 3G network operating at 850Mhz in 97% of the places that New Zealanders live, work and play, was practically built to support the iPhone. It’s specs match the Jesus phone perfectly, leaving Vodafone’s network support for the device looking shakey at best. So it’s only natural that users have been holding their breaths waiting for Telecom to announce official support for the iPhone, and placing a crucial second offer on the table for would-be or existing iPhone users.

Despite tempting us with promises early-on of being in “deep discussion” with Apple over the iPhone, Telecom refused to provide anything more solid even in the weeks and days leading up to the official New Zealand launch of the new 3GS device on July 10th. On July 14th, however, Telecom surprised everyone by playing a cheeky wild card that has no doubt had Vodafone scrambling for their lawyers – Telecom are offering iPhone owners a $600 account credit when they sign up to a OneRate 180 plan for 24months, plus throwing in 240MB of data each month for the life of the contract.

OneRate 180 is priced at $79.95 and as the name suggests gives users 180 minutes of anytime, any-network calling. The 240MB data package is normally priced at $18 per month so that’s a good deal, and considering that this plan normally gives a subsidy of just $220 towards a new phone, the $600 credit is pretty generous. This gives users the ability to purchase an iPhone from Apple direct without having to deal with Vodafone, pay the full cost up-front, and then be credited back half the value of the 16GB model by Telecom.

Of course, Vodafone have been quick to pour cold water on the deal — spokesman Paul Brislen said online “So let’s see, $600 credit and you get an hour’s extra calling and 240MB of data for your $90/month. Vodafone offers 120 minutes of calling but 3GB of data so you can tether. 3GB of data for the Telecom customer on that plan will set you back around $1500 (less the 240MB of course). I know which I’d prefer – 3GB of data, tethered to my laptop.” What Mr Brislen conveniently fails to point out, however, is that Vodafone’s 3GB offering is for just three months, whereas Telecom’s offering is for 24 months. Pressed on this, Mr Brislen teased with “Watch this space”.

As this is a plan-only offering and Telecom are not official carriers of the iPhone, the company cannot offer support for the device and some minor tweaking is required to take advantage of features like MMS and tethering. Luckily, our own NZBullet has done the hard work for you and you can find a guide to setting your iPhone up on XT that is so easy your Mum could do it by clicking here.

It’s great to have some competition in the iPhone space and I don’t think we’ve seen the end of it yet. Both Vodafone and Telecom have hinted that further offers are not off the cards but what we have on the table right now is far better than this time last year when the 3G launched in Godzone.

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What do you think of Telecom’s offer? Will you be taking it up? Let us know in the comments.