For me personally, it's worked out a lot cheaper. I got an unlocked iPhone 3G for ~€510 (inc VAT) and have been using it with a prepaid data SIM. Total cost of data over a year has been about €20-25. I happen to use another phone for voice, and I pay ~€2/month on average for that.
Extrapolated over 2 years: ~€610. (+ €60 for the second phone if you must include it)
The best iPhone tariff at the time was €35/month for 2 years - €840.
Added bonuses:
- I don't have to pay exorbitant data roaming charges when abroad, as I can just swap in a local SIM and have done so in South Africa, UK and Spain. (this is the reason I use a separate SIM+phone for voice)
- iPhone is exclusive to Orange & T-Mobile in Austria, the 2 worst networks for 3G. (this isn't much of an issue as "worst" here is still pretty good compared to most countries)
- ability to resell or otherwise pass it on (obviously)
Comments
For me personally, it's worked out a lot cheaper. I got an unlocked iPhone 3G for ~€510 (inc VAT) and have been using it with a prepaid data SIM. Total cost of data over a year has been about €20-25. I happen to use another phone for voice, and I pay ~€2/month on average for that.
Extrapolated over 2 years: ~€610. (+ €60 for the second phone if you must include it)
The best iPhone tariff at the time was €35/month for 2 years - €840.
Added bonuses:
- I don't have to pay exorbitant data roaming charges when abroad, as I can just swap in a local SIM and have done so in South Africa, UK and Spain. (this is the reason I use a separate SIM+phone for voice)
- iPhone is exclusive to Orange & T-Mobile in Austria, the 2 worst networks for 3G. (this isn't much of an issue as "worst" here is still pretty good compared to most countries)
- ability to resell or otherwise pass it on (obviously)
- I can freely move country (it happens)
- I can tariff-hop