Confirming earlier reports of relatively quiet launches, Apple today officially released the iPhone in two additional countries with existing partners: Ireland with O2, and Austria with T-Mobile. Today’s Irish launch of iPhone was announced in late February, mimicking the British launch in several respects but diverging in others. iPhone is available in Ireland through O2 and Carphone Warehouse stores for €399 (8GB) or €499 (16GB), VAT-inclusive, with service plans starting at €45.
Irish customers have a 1GB data cap, will not have access to Visual Voicemail, instead paying 15 cents per minute for access to traditional voicemail, and will be required to enter into a new 18 month minimum contract for a purchase. No rollover of minutes or text messages is permitted from month to month.
The Austrian launch of iPhone retains the same iPhone hardware prices (€399/8GB, €499/16GB), but differs in service plan pricing and features.
Austria’s Classic plan is offered at €39, with a Supreme plan at €55, both inclusive of 3GB of data, Visual Voicemail, and free T-Mobile Wi-Fi access. The Classic plan includes 1,000 minutes of cell network talk time, but no SMS messages, while the Supreme plan includes 4,000 minutes of total cell and land line talk time, spread 1,000 minutes a piece across four types of networks, plus 1,000 SMS messages per month. Additional charges apply for special calling plans to other countries, and voice/data services when outside of Austrian borders.
