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UK iPhone vs US iPhone: Who gets the better 3G deal?

Before you slip off to America in the hope of snagging a cheaper 3G iPhone, you might want to read this first. The iPhone 3G is priced broadly the same here and abroad, plus or minus a few pounds, but the network contract deals are quite different.

Unlike the original iPhone, which could be bought anywhere and then unlocked, a new requirement from both AT&T in America and O2 in the UK means you're going to have to sign up to a contract before you can take it home. This means that even if you do unlock the 3G iPhone, you'll have to pay a monthly contract anyway.

Incredibly, AT&T is only letting people buy a 3G iPhone from a high-street shop and not online. In the UK, we're going to be able to buy a 3G iPhone on the Web, but we'll still have to sign up to a contract before it's delivered.

The good old British tradition of phone subsidies (they're what the Empire was built on) mean that in the UK if you sign up to a contract at £45 a month or more, you'll get the 3G iPhone for free, gratis, nada. Our poor cousins across the pond won't be nearly so lucky -- AT&T hasn't announced a free iPhone deal on any of its contracts.

But it's not just the subsidies that are making Americans jealous, it's the pay as you go option. Here in the U of K, O2 will offer it without a contract for a rumoured £370. That means that if you don't want to pay monthly, you don't need to, albeit for a hefty wodge upfront.

Interestingly, or rather unfortunately, for current US iPhone owners, if you want to give your old iPhone to someone else, AT&T makes you or the person you're giving it to sign up for a whopping 2-year contract. O2 has yet to confirm how the upgrade system will work here, but we'd be amazed if it didn't let you put a pay as you go SIM into your old iPhone.

It's not all doom and gloom for the Americans, however, because they do get quite a few minutes bundled into their 3G iPhone deal. On the cheapest US deal ($70), there's 450 anytime and 5,000 offpeak minutes -- the UK has to make do with a measly 600 minutes in total on the equivalent £35 contract, and just 75 minutes on the £30 deal. But clearly they're going to spend most of those minutes moaning about how much better the UK iPhone deals are overall. -Andrew Lim

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Comments (11)

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Comments

AnonymousTue 24 June, 2008 1:08pm

About the minutes differential between the US and UK, don't American mobile phone users have to pay for incoming minutes as well as outgoing, whereas we have to pay only for outgoing?

Andrew LimTue 24 June, 2008 2:13pm

You're correct about US call pricing being different but even if you take that into account, the US still gets a better deal.

AnonymousTue 24 June, 2008 2:58pm

Just stop buying iphone altogether, i want it unlocked....

AnonymousTue 24 June, 2008 4:07pm

I'm a 1st generation iPhone owner with o2.

I received a text the day after the iPhone 3g launch from o2 pointing me to an 'early upgrade information' website. I have to sign up for an extension to my 18 month contract (blah blah blah).

It then goes on to say you can give your old iPhone to another 02 contract user or buy a brand new iPhone pay-as-you-go sim card.

But - do I want a new iPhone? I love my iPhone but 3g (in an area with poor coverage) and GPS (for someone that has a TomTom) are not that big-a-deal. The killer stuff comes from the software upgrade and I get that anyway.

I'm holding out for a 32GB iPhone 3g. ;)

AnonymousTue 24 June, 2008 6:01pm

Also here in the UK we will not have to pay for data usage and will still get free wifi via the cloud and O2 have added BT Openzone hotspots as well. That's the two biggest wifi hotspot zones in the UK.

Also you mention about the call minutes. Yes here in the UK we only pay for outgoing minutes but we also get free text messages in with the call plan unlike with AT&T.

Jamie1991Tue 24 June, 2008 7:12pm

@ the anonymous guy above me:

We do get cloud and openzone hotspots, but US iPhone users get free usage of all Starbucks hotspots, which, as you can imagine in USA, is a helluva lot of hotspots

AnonymousWed 25 June, 2008 11:29am

I wish Apple would get it together and offer a network-agnostic, unlocked iPhone. I know they need the network tie-in to support the fancy voicemail, but really, I don't care that much -- I'd happily forgo that for a choice of networks.

AnonymousThu 26 June, 2008 12:12am

£370 for an iPhone 3G on PAYG. I hope that rumour is a false one because that is a ridiculous price (I realise that there are different subsidies and lack of contract involved but still) ; I guess I'll be getting an iPod Touch instead if I want my shiny, miniature Apple fix.

AnonymousThu 26 June, 2008 11:16am

I'd buy one if it'd work with my T-mobile contract

:( oh well just have to buy TYnT 2 instead, which is a shame because I already have a PDA on the way from e-bay.

AnonymousFri 27 June, 2008 6:09pm

£370 on PAYG :( that is way too much

the iPhone 3G (for an 8GB model) is maximum US$199 around the world on contract which makes it £99 (handset) + a contract

why cant the PAYG model be around the price of the 16GB iPhone 3G or around the £200 mark

its unfair that Apple have left the iPhone 3G locked and on O2. i really wanted it to be unlocked :(

AnonymousSat 28 June, 2008 8:55am

You guys need to stop whining about what could have been. Fact is Apple are a business which cares less about fan base and more about profit. So if you want the 3G iPhone bend over and take it and don't expect Apple or O2 to supply the KY.

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