iPhone 3G coming to the Philippines August 22nd

iPhone 3G is almost here


Globe Telecoms has already announced the coming of the iPhone 3G in the Philippines. The most surprising thing here is the cost of the device. Last June, Steve Jobs has announced the release of the iPhone 3G 8GB for $199.00 about Php 8,995 and the 16GB version is for $299, thats $13,455 ($1 =Php 45.00). Quite affordable right?, well not really.
The reason being for the $199.00 tag for the toy is you have to be with AT&T wireless locked (US) for 2 years and select from their plans ranging from $69.99/month (basic plan) up to $129.99/month (unlimited data/voice plan).

According to appleinsider, the real cost of an iPhone3G is about $407 for 8GB version (Php 18,180)

Globe has already announced the pricing for the iPhone3G on their website. Here's a copy of their pricing for both prepaid and postpaid subscribers.

iPHONE PLANS
The new Globe iPhone 3G Plans with FREE Mobile Internet and Wi-Fi hours
	PLAN 1599	PLAN 2199	PLAN 3299	PLAN 3999	PLAN 4999
Monthly Service Fee	P1,599	P2,199	P3,299	P3,999	P4,999
Free Local Voice Minutes	100	210	350	500	750
Globe to Globe	P5.50	P5.00	P4.50	P4.00	P3.50
Globe to Non-Globe	P7.00	P6.50	P6.00	P5.50	P4.50
Free Local SMS Text Message	350	350	450	550	650
Text fee after free text allocation	P1.00/msg.	P0.50/msg.	P0.50/msg.	P0.50/msg.	P0.50/msg.
Free Local Mobile Internet Hours	40 hours	60 hours	100 hours	100 hours	100 hours
Rate in excess of free Mobile Internet hours	P0.50/min.	P0.50/min.	P0.50/min.	P0.50/min.	P0.50/min.
Free WiZ Wi-Fi Hours	20 hours	30 hours	Unlimited	Unlimited	Unlimited
Rate in excess of free WiZ Wi-Fi hours	P2.00/min	P2.00/min	-	-	-
8 GB	P16,800	P14,600	P12,300	P5,600	FREE
16 GB	P22,300	P20,000	P17,800	P11,000	P5,500
- 2-year lock-up applies. - Rates are inclusive of VAT and Currency Exchange Rate Adjustment (CERA). - Free text allocation applies to local text messages (Globe to Globe and Globe to other networks). - Free call minutes allocation applies to local calls (Globe to Globe, Globe to other networks, Globe to landline and NDD calls).

PREPAID

Get the iPhone 3G Prepaid Kit and enjoy 50 hours of FREE Internet!*

	PRICE
8 GB	P41,899
16 GB	P48,899
*Every iPhone Prepaid Kit is provided with P200 worth of free load every month for 5 months. Using Globe's Time browsing rate at P5 for 15 minutes gives you as much as 10 free internet hours per month or as much as 50 free internet hours over 5 months! Activation of the browsing rate is required. Text TIME to 1111 for free.

GFLEX AND GPLAN OFFERS

Get the iPhone 3G with Globe's GPlan or GFlex Plans

Plan	GText	GMix / GFlex 800	GTalk / GFlex 1200	GTalk Plus / GFlex 1800	GMatch / GFlex 2500
Monthly Service Fee	P500	P800	P1,200	P1,800	P2,500
8 GB	P29,000	P25,700	P23,800	P22,000	P20,000
16 GB	P34,500	P31,100	P29,300	P27,500	P25,500

Plan	GMax / GFlex 3500	GPlan / GFlex 5000	GPlan / GFlex 7000	GPlan / GFlex 10000
Monthly Service Fee	P3,500	P5,000	P7,000	P10,000
8 GB	P18,000	FREE	FREE	FREE
16 GB	P23,400	P6,500	P5,000	P3,300
- 2-year lock-up applies.

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The price for the iPhone here in the Philipines is still quite really high. But purchasing the phone from Globe will guarantee that you'll be eligible for support from Apple during your lock-in period. Also you will be able to do the restore and update your iPhone software version directly from itunes if you need to do so. I hope price will drop as soon this device is finally released so more people can afford this miniature Mac OS X computer.