Telstra have units on July 11th -- and they're even talking pricing.
Telstra had remained quiet on the iPhone front, and many pundits had taken that silence to mean that the nation's biggest telco wasn't going to be stocking the heavily hyped handset. That changed today, with Telstra announcing that not only would it be stocking the iPhone -- it would also be the first Australian telco to actually reveal pricing details.
Presuming you're willing to brave the hordes -- or pre-register at Telstra's iPhone web site -- and then brave the hordes -- you can then plunk down $279 for the 8GB iPhone or $399 for the 16GB iPhone on a $30/month, 24-month contract. Those looking for a no-cost option can pick up either the 8GB model on the same contract if they jump to an $80/month, 24-month plan, or a 16GB model on a $100/month, 24-month plan. The release made no mention of being able to pick up an iPhone without a plan, or what would happen if you brought an unlocked iPhone to Telstra, which in practical terms probably means you'd be with them for two years regardless.
Phone calls to Telstra to ascertain what kind of data allowance you'd get for your $30, $80 or $100 per month were not returned at the time of writing, but presuming they're not being exceptionally friendly to iPhone users only, the existing data rates suggest that the $30 plan may not have much data -- Telstra currently charges $40 for a 200MB monthly Next G wireless plan, for example, while the $80 plan currently equates roughly to a 1GB, 7200/1300kbps plan. One mitigating factor here; according to the release you'll get free Telstra WiFi access at any Telstra Hotspot.
Telstra is in a prime position to pick up iPhone customers, as its national Next G network operates on the correct 3G frequencies that the iPhone uses. Optus and Vodafone -- the other two current iPhone providers -- use an incompatible band for their non-metro 3G coverage; the practical upshot is that outside metropolitan areas, their users will drop to GSM speeds.