Tag: tariff plan

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HTC Hero Available from Smartone-Vodafone

Smartone-Vodafone logoThis afternoon the mobile carrier Smartone-Vodafone has announced the price and tariff plans for the HTC Hero.

The top of the line plan is identical to the tariff planSmartone-Vodafone is offering iPhone users in Hong Kong, which they called “The Ultimate iPhone Experience“. The main difference being for the iPhone tariff plan, Smartone-Vodafone is not selling the iPhone 3GS themselves. Customers just have to bring in a proof of purchase from a Hong Kong Apple Authorized Reseller or Apple HK that is dated within 3 months.

The plan requires a 24 months contract with the carrier, plus a minimum subscription of HKD36.00 VAS per month. Giving the unlimited data plan a total monthly cost of HKD446.00 after taken into account the mandatory HKD12.00/month Administration fee.
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Smartone-Vodafone Unlimited Plan for iPhone

Smartone-Vodafone logoFinally Smartone-Vodafone released a tariff plan that address the usage habits of iPhone users in Hong Kong.

The yet unnamed “iPhone Unlimited” tariff plan from Smartone-Vodafone will cost HKD238.00/month + HKD12.00 (MTR fees) for unlimited HSDPA data usage along with a 18-month contract.

Most mobile Hong Kong phone users and readers of my blog know, Smartone-Vodafone has in the past, differentiated what they refer to as “Internet Browsing” and other HSDPA data usage. This has been one of my pet peeves for years. I always thought mobile carriers should focused on delivering the best connection possible to their customers, rather than coming up with complicated ways to charge their customers for using the connection.

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Mobil Carriers Differences in HK

Smartone-Vodafone logoBefore you jump into a mobile tariff contract (for 2 years or 15 months) with your new iPhone 3G or iPhone 3GS you need to understand that not all 3G (HSDPA) network are the same. This is especially important if you are going to buy a new iPhone 3GS.

3 HK LogoThe reason is because, unlike the iPhone 3G, the iPhone 3GS is capable of supporting 7.2 Mbps downlink and 5 Mbps uplink speeds. At the moment as far as I know the 3 HK HSDPA network is capable of supporting 3.6 Mbps downlink speed at most locations and 7.2 Mbps at certain locations. Where as Smartone-Vodafone’s HSDPA network is already capable of supporting 14 Mbps downlink at every location.

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What to Know When Buying an iPhone 3G in Hong Kong

A reader of my blog asked a series of good questions and I thought it may be something all readers will be interested in, so I decided to create a post to answer him. Jonathan asked:

If I simply buy the phone from the Apple store (unlocked) and then get the sim from vodafone (they have a deal on at the moment) will it be as simple as putting it in and turning it on, and I’m good to go? Also, is there anything I need to be aware of when I am choosing my contract?

Yes, all iPhones purchased legitimately in Hong Kong from the mobile carrier Three (“3”) or Apple HK Online Store are full carrier (SIM) unlocked iPhone 3G, and will accept any SIM cards that support the GSM: 850, 900, 1800, 1900MHz and/or GSM 3G: 850, 900, 1900, 2100MHz.

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7 Things You Love to Ask About iPhone Unlocking

Pwnage Tool logoOver the past year and a half I had assisted many people with the unlocking of their iPhones. Many more people ask me about unlocking.

So instead of answering each of these people over and over again, I thought I post an article in my blog, which I can refer them to for more details.

  1. What Does iPhone Unlock mean?
    Many carriers around the world will “carrier lock” a cell phone that they had subsidized for their customers. To ensure the purchaser of the cell phone stays as a customer of the carrier after the purchase, the carrier will normally do two things:

    • Make the purchaser commit to a contract that bounds them to the carrier for a number of years (2 years is common). Of course the purchaser can break the contract, but there is usually a penalty to compensate the carrier for the subsidizing the cell phone.
    • Carrier Lock the cell phone to the carrier’s network, meaning the cell phone cannot be used on any other cellular network in the world.

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Is Smartone-Vodafone’s IOM Value Pack Right for iPhone?

Smartone-Vodafone logoOver a month ago I decided to switch to the Smartone-Vodafone “IOM Value Pack“. You can read why I make this move in my previous post, New Tariff Plan from Smartone-Vodafone for iPhone.

I had shared my experience here on my blog with my experience of using the iPhone in Hong Kong since June 2007. You can follow all of these posts by using the iPhone category.

Today is the last day of my bill cycle at Smartone-Vodafone, so I am now able to report if this “IOM Value Pack” is suitable for iPhone users in Hong Kong.

First I will provide some statistics on my iPhone voice and data usage in the past 30 days.

Internet Browsing as they called it = 27.378MB
Data Usage = 4.373MB
RSS Usage = 13.579MB
POP Usage = 0.340MB

As the IOM Value Pack at HKD136/month includes 600MB/month (20MB/day) Internet Browsing, I am within the limit. The Data Usage, which is most likely the result of IMAP email and other application usage. The POP usage is from one of my email account that I grab mail from, and the RSS reader, these all total 18.292MB, Since the IOM Value Pack charges HKD15/15MB, the extra usage resulted in an additional charge of HKD30.00, giving me a final total of:

HKD136.00
HKD30.00 (extra data usage)
HKD12.00 (MTR fees)

Total = HKD178.00

This is still cheaper than what I was paying prior to switching to the IOM Value Pack.

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New Tariff Plan from Smartone-Vodafone for iPhone

Smartone-Vodafone logoAs I still found my Smartone-Vodafone charges too high, I decided to look for alternatives, including those from competitors, like: PCCW, Three and People.

For those of you who’ve been following my ideal iPhone tariff plan search in Hong Kong, you will know that I had been using Smartone-Vodafone’s 3G voice plan (HKD128/month) + Internet Browsing (HKD38/month)+ Data plan (HKD118/month), giving me a total monthly bill of HKD296/month (including the MTR and administrative fees).

What did these combinations of plans gave me? I will only focus on the features that matters for an iPhone user.

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