Apple iPhone hits Vodafone's shelves on Jan 14

Posted by Daniel Bennett on Mon 21 Dec 2009

It looks as though the iPhone price war will never happen

Vodafone has announced it will begin selling Apple’s iPhone from January 14 and it is taking pre-orders for the handset now.

However Vodafone has done very little to lure shoppers away from its three competitors: O2, Orange and Tesco.

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For example, the iPhone 3GS 16GB is available from Vodafone for £45 per month with 1200 minutes and unlimited texts over a 24-month period, with no added cost for the handset. But this offer imposes a 1GB limit on mobile internet usage.

Meanwhile, on O2, the iPhone 3GS is available for £44.05 per month for the same period, with the same number of minutes and 500 texts, with no added cost for the handset. And here’s the kicker, the 02 contract provides unlimited browsing.

It’s important to point out that however consumers shouldn't chose a mobile phone contract based on cost alone, especially business users, as certain providers can offer better network coverage. For instance, O2’s network has fallen victim to several crashes in recent months.

Tesco Mobile, which runs on the 02 network, still offers the cheapest overall cost for the iPhone with a £20 per month contract for 12 months, with an up-front cost of £320 for the handset.

Essentially, the iPhone looks set to be expensive for the forseeable future.

Link: Vodafone