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Exclusive: Carrier plans emerge for iPhone 3G in India
After breaking the news that the iPhone 3G will be launched in India on August 22, we have some more juicy details on how the two carriers — Airtel and Vodafone — plan to market the Jesus Phone in the country!Â
The biggest and juiciest one is that neither of the carriers will ask subscribers to sign on the dotted line for any monthly or annual commitment! What this essentially mean is that consumers can buy an iPhone 3G and pop in their existing pre-paid or post-paid SIM without signing up for a new plan. The idea being that since 3G networks are still a few months away from coming into existence, carrier’s won’t be able to provide all services that the iPhone 3G promises. Both the carriers will come up with special subscription plans for the iPhone 3G but it is left to the subscriber whether they want to opt for one or stick to their existing plan. But this also means no sub-Rs 10,000 iPhone 3G for India and we still stick to the Rs 24,000 tag for the 8 GB version. Say GOODBYE to the $199 iPhone 3G you had been waiting for…
What’s more, while Airtel will restrict the sale till its exclusive Airtel Stores, Vodafone will retail the iPhone 3G via avenues other than its Vodafone Stores. We ain’t quite clear whether this means Vodafone can tie-up with cellphone retail chains but one thing is certain that you will get a Vodafone bundled iPhone 3G at Apple Stores but not the ones bundled with Airtel. To top everything, we have learnt that Vodafone will also retail iPhone 3G compatible accessories.
Everything said and done, what’s ironic over here is we are getting fed ‘information’Â from Vodafone executives about their plans while the company is yet to officially announce that they are also launching the iPhone 3G on August 22! We wonder what they are waiting for, hopefully not Christmas!
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19 August 2008 in Exclusive by Rajat AgrawalComment on this post
