Jul 08
iPhone 3G Belgium announced after all
2008 at 05.50 pm posted by Veerle Pieters
Mobistar today announced that the iPhone will be available at the 11th of July just as originally announced by Apple. You have to ask yourself why all the failing if they can launch it on the target date after all. This puzzles me as it doesn’t offer confidence towards your customers.
The iPhone will be unlocked
So finally we now know that it will be SIM lock free thanks to our Belgian law. Personally I find this a good thing because it gives me the freedom to shop around for the best ISP. So either Base or Proximus now have an opportunity that presents itself to announce something very competitive. That's a good thing. So if I was them I would take this with both hands and get this 3G market off the ground so that those stupid high prices are a thing of the past. The only exclusivity that Mobistar has is that they are the ones that can sell the phone together with the Apple Premium dealers. That means they have a deal for a certain period of time. The CEO of Mobistar didn't want to say how long that was btw.
The prices
8GB iPhone
- 525€ incl. VAT (433,88€ excl. VAT)
16GB iPhone
- 615€ incl. VAT (508,26€ excl. VAT)
The plans
My30
- 30€
- 3h call time or 300 SMS
- 200MB data
My45
- 45€
- 6h call time or 600 SMS
- 500MB data
My60
- 60€
- 9h call time or 900 SMS
- 1GB data
If you use more minutes, SMS messages and data volume than included, you pay 20 cents per minute, 12 cents per SMS and 2 cents per MB.
iPhone for business
- 25€ VAT not included (21%)
- 1h calling time
- 1GB data + 1 hour WIFI hotspot time
Expensive?
I think the iPhone prices are competitive when compared with a simular device that has the same feature set. People who think that an unlocked phone would be available for let's say the 199 that Steve Jobs mentioned are seriously misguided. That's not realistic at all. This isn't a cheap phone after all. People who want a cheap model will have to wait until Apple follows the same path of what they did with the iPod when the Shuffles came to the market. I bet the same will happen with the iPhone eventually but it will take a while.
The cheap prices people are still referring to are with a TWO YEAR contract so NOT SIM lock free. Those contracts have hidden costs and it's just like paying off debt. The hidden costs are for example when you want to get out of it and make your phone SIM lock free. Those terms differ from country to country. I am glad we don't have to deal with all that so you choose yourself if you want that or not. I am buying one and for the time being I'm staying where I am and see what the market does. I'll use WIFI instead until prices become reasonable and thanks to the unlocked version I have that option. So Proximus I am staying for now but if you don't come up with a better plan am outta here. So the ball is in your court ;) You have a chance here don't blow it!
Update: Actually Mobistar is cheaper than buying an iPhone in the US. See this iPhone 3G cost of ownership comparison.
47served
1
That’s great news. I credit your previous article for whipping them into shape. Congratulations! :)
2
Nice, although I’m still a bit disappointed about the retail price. It’s still too expensive for me
Good follow up Veerle, thx
3
Gotta love the Belgian law officers!
Congratulations. I wonder when is my country’s turn? :(
4
It is a pity that Russia has not officially iPhone :(
5
Maybe it would be a good start to let the mobistar iPhone site work in a Safari Browser!
6
But they said $199 ... Apple’s not keeping their word!
Plus the visual voice mail won’t work, not even on mobistar… That’s a Big Fail imho.
7
It seems you are in better shape than Canadians such as myself…
Canadian price comparison
8
unlocked iPhones!! I love Belgium! I detest Rogers Wirelsss! plans
9
I still feel that it’s a grossly overpriced product, but if they can get away with charging it, power to them.
10
For me, the price of 525 euro is too expensive (I would prefer 400 euro). However, when you compare this price with those of other business/multimedia phones, the price is fair.
An iPhone is actually an iPod Touch with phone, sms, camera, 3G and GPS. How much are these extra features worth? IMHO, not 246 euro (the biggest hardware and sofware cost is already present in the iPod Touch).
Apple blew it by proclaiming the iPhone 3G to be “Twice as fast, half the price”. They conveniently forgot to mention that people are obliged to sign a contract for 2 years. The consequence of this are angry reactions of uninformed people on Belgian internet fora, people that compare 199 dollar to 825 dollar.
Mobistar also blew it. If you sell an expensive phone, at least offer a contract that is appealing (more MB). Now Proximus and Base have a chance of getting iPhone customers. But I’m not holding my breath for them to come up with an affordable data plan (there is no real/good competition in the phone and internet business in Belgium).
The only luck for Mobistar is the fact that the phone is unlocked. People from abroad will buy one here if they don’t want to be tied to a specific provider and contract.
In the meantime, minister Van Quickenborne wants to abolish the law that forbids forced bundling ("koppelverkoop"). Stupid. Offering a combined deal is good (say, get the 2-year contract + iPhone and get 30% off), but a free market should allow the customer to buy a product without being forced to buy another product as well.
Well, I’ve said my thing. Now I will wait for the price to drop to an affordable level.
11
It’ll be interesting to see if any are available on the 11th and if so how long stocks will last. Apparently, they have run out in the UK already.
It’ll be interesting to see how the Belgian model influences providers in other countries and what sort of incentives the different Belgian providers will come up with.
12
Well it seems belgium is not to bad! Theres been alot of angry people in NZ - plans start at $80/month - for just 200mb data to $250/month!!. Even with the phone being discounted seems like someones making alot of money out of it!
13
It seems Apple and Mobistar managed to get the Belgian government to reconsider this very law!
14
Stop the iPhone hype! I really find this lame. it’s worrying how people act like they can’t live without this small phone.
I understand the product is nice but come on it’s a damn phone.
Geek stuff :(
15
Thomas said:
Yeah Steve Jobs should have checked facts because he made a statement that shouldn’t have been said in the keynote and now many people have a misunderstanding about price. See below about price.
Mathew Browne said:
You have to be a realist because like I said the $199 is with a two year plan and many loopholes. A Nokia N96 16GB costs almost $800 and that’s a similar device with a better camera.
A.L. said:
I totally agree that Q is stupid here. I have nothing against bundling IF the device is still freely available as well.
Splover said:
That’s where you are wrong it is NOT just a phone, in fact it’s a device that will change the way we work and communicate in the long run. It’s like when they first introduced the computer, people also thought “pffttt it’s just for nerds” and look now you even use it. I’m proud to be a geek ;) Come back in a few years and you’ll see.
16
To me, Arstechnica made teh best remark :
“The three plans are €30 ($47) for 180 minutes or 300 SMSes and 200MB data, €45 ($70) for 360 minutes or 600 SMSes and 500MB data, and €60 ($94) for 540 minutes or 900 SMSes and 1GB data. These aren’t particularly good plans for a subsidized phone, but they’re pathetic for an unsubsidized one. Just north of the border (that would be in the Netherlands), you’ll get a hair fewer minutes and half the SMSes for (pretty much) the same price—but unlimited data, and the iPhone 3G itself is subsidized down as low as €1. To add insult to injury, the Mobistar plans require a two-year contract.”
17
While I do agree that it’s fortunate that we have a SIM Lock free iPhone in Belgium, I would prefer to have best of both worlds (like eg. France) where the providers are allowed to couple the device to a subscription, but have to sell it SIM free as well. Why ? Take a look at the prices in eg the Netherlands.
8Gb for 80 euro with a subscription of 30euro/month
16Gb for 1 euro with a subscription of 45euro/month
If I buy the iPhone at mobistar I pay 525(8Gb) or 615(16GB) and my subscription is STILL 30/month or 45/month. The subscriptions from Mobistar are quite similar to those from T-Mobile giving you a little bit more minutes (30min) but restricted to 200/500mb per month (unlimited with T-Mobile).
So who is getting the best deal ? IMHO T-Mobile.
And yes we have the CHOICE to choose, but BASE is Edge only, and Proximus is asking 15euro for 50mb, and if I’m calculating correctly 150euro for 200mb, not including any minutes/SMSes
18
gmax said:
I agree that the plans could be better but a subsidized phone isn’t the answer. Since you mention the Netherlands an example: The most expensive iPhone in Belgium costs 615 Euro, plus 24 months (2 years) x 30,25 = 726 + 615 Euro equals 1341 Euro.
In the Netherlands the most expensive one costs only 19,95 Euro, plus 24 months (2 years) x 64,95 = 1558,80 Euro + 19,95 Euro equals 1578,75 euro. So that makes it 237,75 Euro more expensive and you are stuck because it is SIM locked. And I didn’t even calculate the one time setup cost that now temporarily costs 26,25 Euro but normally is 52,50 Euro. It’s also with the same two year contract that you can’t get out off or you have to pay.
So people need to wake up and understand that there isn’t such a thing as a free lunch here.
19
@Veerle 18: it isn’t quite fair to take the lowest belgian plan and compare it to the highest dutch plan.
With the (cheapest) 29,95-plan, TCO of the 16 Gig version is 878.75 (24x29.95 + 159.95) with 150 minutes/sms + unlimited data. See
And you won’t be stuck with a sim locked phone, Dutch operators are obligated to remove the simlock after 1 year.
There really is no such thing as a free lunch, but thank god competition exists on the Dutch Telco market.
20
Sorry, more hype
The launch is at Galeries de la Toison d’Or tomorrow.
When? 10 July.
Where? Galeries de la Toison d’Or, 1050 Bruxelles.
21
Confirmed by an apple premium store: the new Iphone in Belgium is NOT completely unlocked. It is still country locked so you cannot use it with a non-belgian simcard (at least without modifications). Welcome to Apple, the new monopolist.
22
I bet your recent article had something to do with them doing this and I think thats awesome and anyone else who wrote about this did a great job getting them going.
23
Splover said:
While there is a certain amount of hype about the iPhone… it is well deserved. It is a game changing appliance ... it is the Standard against which all PDAs will now be judged. And Apple along with informed consumers are rallying against the monopolistic practices of the cell carriers. A year or two from now we’ll see another game changing shift with iPhone 3.0. Can’t wait!
24
Cor said:
That’s true but to make it completely fair we should just compare the price of the phone itself. So you are paying 878,75 because your are locked in the contract for two years. It doesn’t matter that it is unlocked after a year since you have to pay 24 months anyway. I pay 615 and I am done. My point is that a subsidized phone isn’t a better deal. People are blind to that fact. The only thing that is true is that you have better plans for using it. But it’s my hope that this device will change things here and bring reasonable plans as well. I’m using Wifi instead until they arrive.
Frederik said:
This seem to be true, they are locked to the 3 Belgian carriers so you can’t use them with a foreign carrier. I’ve had this confirmed by Macline BUT they don’t have them in stock yet. Is this work of a monopolist? Doubtful, since it’s to avoid unfair competition with companies in other countries. Everybody would shop here so other carriers would loose out of their exclusive deal. I can understand this. Apple is no angel but this seems to be fair towards deals that have been made.
25
Veerle said:
That’s a bummer for Mobistar.
I don’t agree with your unfair competition statement. The telephone companies get exclusivity for a certain region (country), one (or two) providers for each country. They don’t have that exclusivity outside their region. If Apple wants to give iPhones away for free in one country, then the carriers in the neighbouring countries will be pissed, but it’s not their distribution area.
Of course I understand that Apple doesn’t want to make those carriers angry. But the iPhone costs 525 or 615 euro! It’s a reasonable price. People from outside of Belgium that want to buy an iPhone here will only do it if their carrier charges too much or if they wouldn’t buy an iPhone from them anyway.
Apparently, commercial (multinational) companies have problems with capitalism, free market, as well as free movement of goods and services. What’s next?
26
3 people in my office out of 7 have an iPhone, with another one about to get one, and two of the first 3 going to upgrade to the newer version.
Im told its great and im sure it is, and does everything you’d ever want and more.
But there does remain a percentage of people like myself that just wants a phone to be a phone.
Theres no way I could justify to myself that kind of money on what I look at as a simple convenience device.
Maybe im just jealous…
27
it’s a WORLD phone. I don’t believe for a sec that it is locked to a particular carrier in a a particular country.
28
vanni said:
It is, BUT from what I’ve heard you can’t pop in a SIM card from another country, so for example an Italian sim card wouldn’t work on a Belgian Phone. Of course if you travel abroad with a Belgian SIM card it will work. That’s what an Apple Premium Reseller told me.
29
so if i damage my sim card for some reason and buy a new one it won’t work. seems odd if this is the case. if true it’s a deal breaker.
30
Good price and and good plan, in Italy this price’s plan is a dream…
31
vanni said:
Only in the odd case that the SIM breaks when you are not in your own country. That’s a very small risk. I traveled a lot and it never broke and I had it for 10 years already. We will know in a few days if it is true or not but the source is trustworthy.
32
Do dumb questions get answered? ;)
so could I buy the iphone and a sim provider from belgium and then just use the iphone all the time in germany?
33
This doesn’t make sense. It’s still a phone and you will need a phone plan. Otherwise you’d be better of buying the iPod Touch.
34
Sorry Veerle, I’ve got that toy during two months. It’s a nice phone, nothing else besides the fact that its full of bugs and fingerprints ...
Don’t expect any revolution and do not act as if you couldn’t live without this expensive luxury thingy…
Do not let apple rule your life and wallet...it’s stupid
Eric
35
Alberto Byington Neto De Figueiredo said:
Yes you could do that but your phone bill will go through the roof.
Cor said:
No I don’t since I already have a cheap one. We pay only 45 Euro for the two mobile phones and calls. I’m not a heavy user but I do want an easy to use phone that makes life easier but it’s not what I will use most. So an iPod Touch doesn’t do that for me.
Eric Joye said:
You are the exception because I have noticed first hand how revolutionary it is really is. It will change things and clients will want that stuff get built for the iPhone. If you think otherwise that’s your right but we will talk again in a year when any other manufacturar tries to do the same. I’m pretty confident about this and you don’t know me so you can’t judge if this is a luxury toy for me. I’m a designer/developer so you do the math :)
36
Eric Joye said:
I’ve worked with it for several months, and I’ve started programming for it, and I can tell you, it really is revolutionary. The way it works is so subtle and elegant. When you create your own apps, it keeps the standard look-and-feel of the phone (yes you can change it but that would be against the design rules of Apple), and it’s just these rules that gives Macintosh its easyness to use.
And that it would be stupid to let Apple rule your life and wallet,…
It’s not at all stupid. I’m not gonna start the windows-linux-mac discussion here, but I’ve been working with Windows for 13 years now, 4 years with Linux and 2 years with Mac, and I can’t tell you how sorry I am for not having bought a Mac earlier. They really speed up your work. And what really should be said, Apple products were expensive, they’re not that expensive anymore, they cost more or less the same as a regular PC with the same capabilities, only they’re far more beautiful (however you may have modded your PC) and they run Mac OS :).
Sacha
37
I thought about getting my new one today (I already have a 1st generation one), but when I saw the queue this morning, I decided to wait a little bit. O_O
I’ve got until October to upgrade (for about no money) anyway… :P
The iPhone’s been the best phone I’ve ever had (it works like a charm, no bug whatsoever). It’s also the best gadget I’ve ever had. 8 or so months on, I’m still amazed by its quality and usability.
38
the iPhone is a platform. enough said.
39
iphone 2.0 has been liberated. The only way to fly.
40
whats all this hype about the iphone? surely the sheep-a-phone is way better!
All kidding aside your cell phone plans are expensive!
41
the new phone was released today locally and I saw on the television news that the stores were sold out in minutes, and that they had problems setting up the phones because the servers were down and/or slow because they were overwhelmed with too many requests at once to activate them. A lot of people went home empty handed and angry today. I’d like to have one someday, but it’s not worth the hassle of waiting in line for hours!
42
There seems to be evidence that you can use a Belgian unlocked iPhone in another country with a foreign SIM card. Macbidouille has bought a iPhone in Belgium and used it with an SFR SIM card.
43
I got one this friday, but not without any hassle…
44
from the comparison chart. Swisscom has the cheapest offer.
45
A better deal than AT&T;for sure. And way better than in Sweden where a 1GB plan is 859kr/month for 18months…
At least the iphone has already been jailbreaked. =)
46
About SIM Lock: I’ve just bought new iPhone 3G. And it is perfectly working with my Polish (Era GSM) sim card. I have Belgium sim card as well.. but when I performed the test with my Polish card - it is working. It is also working with my buddy’s Finnish sim card. Looks like there is not locked after all
47
Good news Charlie. It confirms what many of us believed would be the case with being able to interchange SIMs.
What was the cost of purchase of the iPhone in Belgium sans contract?