article About iPhone 4S Craze? - (all-vga-corner)

I have not been posted for a while due to other commitments.

The first post will be iPhone 4S. Since Steve has just passed away and he is missed by many, it will be a good time to see if Apple has products to continue his legacy.

There are minor updates to iPhone 4 but 4S has breaking sales due to the demise of Steve. What are the interesting features which many found it useful? Some of the features are:

1. Siri - a voice app that aims to be your personal secretary;
2. Speed - dual cores which nearly double the benchmark and chipset is upgraded to A5;
3. Camera - 5 element lens and 30% improved sharpness on a 8MB resolution with video stabilization; and
4. iOS5 - new OS with special mention of iCloud which promises 5G storage space in the cyberspace.

The question to ask is whether iPhone 4S breaks new ground or people just buy it for the sake of remembering Steve. Industry is disappointed it is not iPhone 5 but the sentiment defy expectation and sales better iPhone 4.

How is competition? Samsung Galaxy S2 is the closest competition with the chart HERE. A complete comparison is spelt out HERE in iTechVision. Numbers aside, the question is do you want to upgrade if you already has iPhone 4?

For those without data plan, it is a punishment to buy a iPhone 4S if you do not understand the true meanings of mobility and smartphone. Those who have already owned a iPhone 4 with a budget, it is not advisable to upgrade as the features are not fantastic. You can save for an iPhone 5. Apple is cashing in on Steve's death and maximise their profits.

If you never own a smartphone before, you may consider iPhone 4S. But before you jump into the wagon, spare a thought for other smartphone vendors like Samsung Galaxy S2 or Nokia N9. Both are cheaper than iPhone 4S and your experiences will not be dampened as long as you have a data plan (the key to your smartphone experiences).

You have lots to learn if you have your first smartphone. The key is the applications which you can install to suit your lifestyle with a data plan. In the world of social media, instant communication is the key to be hype. Getting a fad iPhone 4S with no data plan will be the biggest mistake you will make. Given limited budget, get a smartphone with data plan is better off than an expensive iPhone 4S with no data plan.

Frankly, technology gadgets are fads when the warranty is only 12 months for a 24-month standard mobile contact. The costs of the "free" phone has already been included in the monthly payment. When the warranty expires in 12 months, you are still paying for another 12 months for the discounted phone but enjoy no warranty for another 12 months. Isn't it interesting?

In Amercia, Apple's iPhones are tied up exclusively with AT&T with a cheapest US$15/month data plan for only 200MB of data. As a new customer, you are expected to pay another US$399 for a 64GB iPhone 4S. Bear in mind that the data speed is inconsistently low at a maximum of 2.5MBps at best with repeated upgrade on its networks.

In Singapore, Singtel's customers are expected to pay S$39.9/month for a 24-month plan for an upfront cost of S$798 for a 64GB iPhone. A new Samsung Galaxy S2 I9100 and Nokia N9 16GB cost S$148 and S$98 respectively. You do your maths.

For a die-hard Apple fan, you may consider the old iPhone 3 or iPhone 4 as they have depreciated to a "free" phone. The argument that Apple fans has is Apple provide long-term support for its handset while other vendors ignore their older phones when they have new models. Very true as we see iPhone 4 can be upgrade to iOS5 while many Android phones are still in Froyo 2.2 or below instead of the latest Gingerbread 2.3. In fact, non-Gingerbread phones are often sold at discount or free to consumers with a budget to clear stocks. Manufacturers offer no upgrade on its firmware and obsolete them before the 24-month mobile contract is over. It is a sad fact in the industry. Apple wins hand down in support since they have only a handful of mobile phone sets. Read more by The Understatement.

No matter what you choose, stocks for Samsung Galaxy S2 and iPhone 4S 64GB is low now. With plenty of stocks, Nokia N9 is the underdog as Meego OS may be obsoleted soon as the partnership with Microsoft thickens. The only merit of N9 is the free OVI GPS map where the download of maps is free.

Afterall, it is a Laissez-faire ecomony and the choice is yours.

article About Should I convert from Post-paid to Pre-paid mobile plan? - (all-vga-corner)

Planning for your ideal mobile plan

Many retirees "inherited" the obsolete mobile phones from their children when they upgrade the phones. Since a mobile plan (with a SIM card) is needed to make the old phone come alive, they leave the decision of their mobile plans to their children. Most of their children chose post-paid plan with limited incoming voice calls with no data plan. However, most old folks are wary of making outgoing voice calls because they are not used to the phone and it is chargeable. For some old plans, they are paying more than S$60+ for 300 min outgoing minutes per month. Due to fierce competition over the years, new plans are more competitive at S$25+ for 100 min outgoing. However, many are ignorance of this option when their contract is due. The same applies for students in schools, polytechnics and universities, except their phones are normally smart phones with data plan.
The demand of pre-paid mobile plan is attractive to short-term tourists and our foreign "talents" (aka workers) who rarely use their phone and cannot get credit. The beauty of pre-paid plan lies in the absence of 2-year contract with the telco. This target segment is not demanding of voice mail, text or data plan since their phones are either low-end or obsolete models. So they are compromised to pay a higher price to use pre-paid services.
Stop, read paragraph 2 again. If you believe every word I wrote, then perhaps you need a paradigm shift. Ten years ago, paragraph 2 is politically correct but it is no longer true now. If 50% of Europe is using pre-paid plans, you are a true believer on the myths of using pre-paid plan. Let me tell you why.

Post-paid vs Pre-paid

If a picture paints a thousand words, I hope this table shed lights on the differences.

	Post-Paid	Pre-Paid
Payment mode	After use	Before use
Monthly Bills	Yes	No
Subscription	Yes	No
Contract binding	2 years	None
Free phone bundle	Yes	None
Registration Charge	S$10.70	None
Free incoming voice calls	Yes	Depending on the plans
Free SMS	Yes	Depending on the plans
Free Caller ID	No	Yes
Free Voice Mail	No	Yes
Fee incoming calls	Yes	Depends

 
Yes. That's all for the differences. How about data plan, IDD calls, international roaming? Don't worry. Pre-paid plans cover them and sometimes offer more.
If you are using post-paid, there is no such thing as free outgoing voice call. It has been factored into your month free minutes. That's why you are paying more for 300 or 700 minutes. It is charged at SS$0.16/min if you exceed your allocated free minutes. Many customer service representatives will tell you to choose the highest minutes plan from your maximum usage. So you are choosing 100min/mth plan (S$16 value) if you are using 80min/mth and 300min/mth plan (S$54 value) when you are in fact using 101 min/mth.
Basically, prepaid plan is not restricted by the number of outgoing voice call minutes and number of SMSs. The catch is pay-as-you-use and in fact, more flexible than standard post-paid services. Therefore, get ready for the surprise if you are the frog still hiding in the well.

Pre-paid plans in the market

Being the largest mobile player in Singapore, SingTel has 4 different pre-paid offerings:

• Hi!card (standard prepaid at 8 cents/min during Happy Hour) with top-up options of (15% bonus, S$28, S$30 and S$55)

• Kababayan Card (calling Philippines at 7 cents/min )
• simPATI kangen Card (calling Indonesia at 16-26 cents/min)
• Sawadee Card (calling Thailand at 6 cents/min)

Since we are targeting at Singaporeans who are interested to convert from Post-paid to Pre-paid, cards and top-up options which are targeting for foreigners who wish to make IDD calls will be omitted in our discussion. Hence, we only consider the Hi!card and its top-up options.
Starhub has 2 basic plans � Green (Happy S$128 and Happy Star S$17) and MaxMobile for voice and data plan respectively. Top-up options are Happy (voice) and Happy Stars (data) prepaid. On and off, they introduce some perks to make their pre-paid cards more attractive. Since we are focusing only on voice plan, we shall take MaxMobile out of the equation.
M1 also has 2 pre-paid plans � M Super S$130 and SuperPac. The former targets standard users while SuperPac targets foreigners who live in a different time zone. We shall consider both plans with its top-up options.

Benchmark using a Post-paid plan

For low usage users, we need a benchmark for comparison so we take a standard 100min/mth plan with no data plan at a comparable value of S$25.68 (100 outgoing minutes and 500 SMSs). Over a period of 24 mths, a post-paid plan will cost a subscriber a total of S$616.32. Note that Post-paid plan can receive unlimited incoming call.

	100min/mth	300min/mth
Free outgoing voice minutes	100	300
Free SMS	500	500
Cost for 1 month (S$)	25.68	48.15
Costs over 24 mths (S$)	616.32	1155.60

 

Case studies

For the Pre-paid plan, let make the following presumption for both groups of consumers:

	Old folk	Night shift worker	Businessman
Duration of incoming calls a month (min)	50	75	150
Duration of outgoing calls a month (min)	50	75	100
Average call duration (min)	1	2	3
Calls made during peak period	80%	10%	60%
Calls made during non-peak period	20%	90%	40%
SMS per month	0	500	600

 
A run through the formula reveals the following:

Best plan	Old folks	Monthly bills (S$)		Night shift worker	Monthly bills (S$)		Businessman	Monthly bills (S$)
1	Singtel Hi!Card (S$55)	9.71		Singtel Hi!Card (S$28)	15.96		Singtel Hi!Card (S$28)	32.63
2	Starhub Green	12.75		Starhub Happy Star card (S$17)	18.46		M Card Super S$130	38.75
3	Singtel Hi!Card (15% bonus)	13.25		Hi!Card (S$55)	19.71		Starhub Happy (S$128)	41.58
Post-paid Plan	Standard 100 min/mth	25.68		Standard 300min/mth	48.15		Standard 300min/mth	48.15

 
The results may be surprising for many because 100min/mth plan can be cheaper than S$10/mth. Yes, it happens. By seizing advantages of the off-period period, you are able to make cheap calls thereby reducing the costs of mobile ownership. Either case, we see most pre-paid plans are cheaper than standard post-paid plans if you ignore the free incoming calls. Bear in mind that pre-paid plans are pay-as-you-use so if you have low usage for that month, you can effectively save more. It is a wonderful way of limiting your phone bill.
An excellent example is a night shift worker. Since there is no 200min/mth plan and outgoing voice at 150min/mth, one need to take up the 300min/mth plan as "adviced" by experts. If he/she takes up a pre-paid plan, savings is sizable and even better than a 100min/mth plan. The saving is nearly half of what he is paying for 300min/mth plan. Can you see the beauty?
Even for a businessman with 300min outgoing voice calls, the bill is much cheaper than a standard 300min/mth plan. Yes, it is possible and you can do your own maths.

The balance of the equation

If pre-paid plans are superior in value, why most of us still signing up post-paid plans? The answers are simple. In the beginning, many have no phone and signing a 2-year contract can get a free or discounted phone. Also, we are haunted by the old Pre-paid plans which are unattractive in value as compared to post-paid plans. It may costs twice as much to call out as compared to post-paid plans.
Now, new pre-paid plans are customized for the new market segments to suit the trend. In Europe and USA, pre-paid plans are bundled with phones and some are having free incoming calls (like M1 SuperPac). These pre-paid plans are very attractive as it offers customers good benefits without a contract to tie them down. If they are near to the end of their contract and the phone is working fine, a new pre-paid plan with free incoming call may offer more values to them.
An interesting find is the M1 SuperPac and Starhub Happy Star. They offer data plan and 24-hours free incoming calls so they are in-between pre-paid and post-paid plans. If you really compare the details, they are catered for travellers and adults who are working 9-6pm who cannot answer mobile during this period (ie. Hotel service staffs).
Last but not least, it is important to consider the validity of the card since its last top up. It will make a difference on what is the frequency of top-up. It is crucial if you seldom use the phone. So, how about getting a pre-paid card now?

article About Best iPhone plans for 8GB and 16GB - (all-vga-corner)

Features of 3 iPhone models

Yesterday, I have written the best plans for iPhone 3GS 32GB (3^rd generation iPhone). This phone is the latest Apple phone with a faster processor, slightly superior battery life equipped with a 3.2MP camera compared to the 2^nd generation iPhone 3G. The 16GB version has half the flash memory as compared to the 32GB version so it is cheaper in value. If you have few applications, songs and data to be stored on the iPhone, a 16GB is sufficed for your daily use. 32GB version is an overkill as flash memory is always dropped as the production reaches economic of scales powered by the increasing demand of flash memory in storage arena.

In contrast, iPhone 3G with a modest 8GB is the 2^nd generation iPhone with 2MP camera but with 3G support, it works well with any of the minimum 12GB data plans. So is iPhone 3G 8GB having a slower download speed as compared to the latest 3GS iPhone 16GB or 32GB? The answer is no. The download speed for both iPhone 3G and 3GS are at a maximum speed of 7.2Mbps (HSDPA). Since all 3 telcos are matching with 7.2Mbps for all iPhone plans, the only speed bottlenecks lie in the network coverage and the environment where you are in. You may refer to the earlier blog on how to measure the data speed with your mobile phone. On the side note, you may wish to consider the upload speed which is not mentioned in the websites of all the 3 telcos. For example, Starhub offers a upload speed of 1.9Mbps for all its iPhone plans.

The premium plans will not be discussed because these 2 models belong to the lower end and premium plans do not change much. If you wish to get 3G 8GB or 3GS 16GB, you may wish to refer to the earlier blog. The differences are minor as the monthly subscriptions form the majority of the Total Cost of Ownership (TCO).

iPhone 3G 8GB

With no worry on its speed, the next concern is choosing the right plan. This model is ideal for value proposition since it has the lowest top-up value. The following table is derived.

Mins/month	M-Value	M-Lite	ST-Lite	ST-Value	SH-100	SH-300
50	$ 1,262.00	$ 1,442.00	$ 1,274.00	$ 1,391.76	$ 1,300.00	$ 1,510.00
100	$ 1,262.00	$ 1,442.00	$ 1,274.00	$ 1,391.76	$ 1,300.00	$ 1,510.00
134	$ 1,392.97	$ 1,442.00	$ 1,404.97	$ 1,391.76	$ 1,430.97	$ 1,510.00
150	$ 1,454.60	$ 1,442.00	$ 1,466.60	$ 1,391.76	$ 1,492.60	$ 1,510.00
200	$ 1,647.20	$ 1,442.00	$ 1,659.20	$ 1,391.76	$ 1,685.20	$ 1,510.00
212	$ 1,693.42	$ 1,442.00	$ 1,705.42	$ 1,437.98	$ 1,731.42	$ 1,510.00
250	$ 1,839.80	$ 1,442.00	$ 1,851.80	$ 1,584.36	$ 1,877.80	$ 1,510.00
300	$ 2,032.40	$ 1,442.00	$ 2,044.40	$ 1,776.96	$ 2,070.40	$ 1,510.00

From the graph, we observe that M1's plans beat Starhub's plans flat. If you are having an average call out of 134 to 212 minutes/month, it is wise to choose Singtel M-Value Plan. Else M1 M-Value and M-Lite plans provide the lowest TCO for the rest.

iPhone 3GS 16GB

The plans for this mid end phone are presented below.

Mins/month	M-Value	M-Lite	ST-Lite	ST-Value	SH-100	SH-300
50	$ 1,382.00	$ 1,592.00	$ 1,454.00	$ 1,591.76	$ 1,450.00	$ 1,660.00
100	$ 1,382.00	$ 1,592.00	$ 1,454.00	$ 1,591.76	$ 1,450.00	$ 1,660.00
150	$ 1,574.60	$ 1,592.00	$ 1,646.60	$ 1,591.76	$ 1,642.60	$ 1,660.00
200	$ 1,767.20	$ 1,592.00	$ 1,839.20	$ 1,591.76	$ 1,835.20	$ 1,660.00
250	$ 1,959.80	$ 1,592.00	$ 2,031.80	$ 1,784.36	$ 2,027.80	$ 1,660.00
300	$ 2,152.40	$ 1,592.00	$ 2,224.40	$ 1,976.96	$ 2,220.40	$ 1,660.00

The graph depicts that both M1 plans are the clear winners in the value market except for 200mins/month, Singtel Value wins a marginal S$0.24. Now, you can tell any blind man to get M1 plan if he wants a iPhone 3G 16GB. However, Starhub SH-300 is a close competitor with M1 M-Lite with a small S$68 margin.

Conclusions

For easy reference, the TCO table for all phones and plans is shown below.

Mins/month	Lowest TCO	3G 8GB	Lowest TCO	3GS 16GB	Lowest TCO	3GS 32GB
50	$ 1,262.00	M-Value	$ 1,382.00	M-Value	$ 1,522.00	M-Value
100	$ 1,262.00	M-Value	$ 1,382.00	M-Value	$ 1,522.00	M-Value
150	$ 1,391.76	ST-Value	$ 1,574.60	M-Value	$ 1,714.60	M-Value
200	$ 1,391.76	ST-Value	$ 1,591.76	ST-Value	$ 1,741.76	ST-Value
250	$ 1,442.00	M-Lite	$ 1,592.00	M-Lite	$ 1,742.00	M-Lite
300	$ 1,442.00	M-Lite	$ 1,592.00	M-Lite	$ 1,742.00	M-Lite
450	$ 2,019.80	M-Lite	$ 2,169.80	M-Lite	$ 2,319.80	M-Lite
500	$ 2,212.40	M-Lite	$ 2,280.00	ST-Plus	$ 2,378.00	ST-Plus
700	$ 2,352.00	M-Extreme	$ 2,352.00	M-Extreme	$ 2,450.00	M-Extreme
1000	$ 3,507.60	M-Extreme	$ 3,507.60	M-Extreme	$ 3,605.60	M-Extreme
1500	$ 4,752.00	M-Unlimited	$ 4,752.00	M-Unlimited	$ 4,752.00	M-Unlimited

For the lowest TCO, your wallet will suffer a damage of S$1,262. This is the lowest price for owning a iPhone. You must refrain from abusing the data bandwidth and exceed the limit of monthly data usage for value plans.

By far, M1 plans win in nearly every category. Singtel has a few winners but Starhub has none. This clearly explains why M1 shops are crowded with human queues while Starhub shops are crowded with flies. As a smart consumer, be prepared to choose the best plan from the chart below before you join in the queue. Remember to consider M1's Take-3 plan, Free Calls to 3 M1 numbers, Unlimited SMS and MMS plus Free Campus/Army Camp calls (students and NSFs) and 35% discount on Multi-Line Saver to enjoy greater discounts.

TRUE WINNER

With the above, do you think you are the winner in this war? Unfortunately, the answer is NO. M1 laughs all the way to the bank if everyone signs up their M-value plan. Why?

From M1 perspective, they wish to regain market share as they do not complete package like Singtel's MIO and Starhub's Hubber as they do not own the infrastructure.

From consumer end, you are the "biggest" loser by choosing M-Value because it has the lowest value amongst the plans. If we only consider voice calls and SMSs, below are the perceived values of the plans based on simple calculations.

	M-Value	M-Lite	M-Extreme	Explanation & Formula
Monthly Fee (w/GST)	$ 36.00	$ 56.00	$ 98.00	A
Free voice call (mins)	100.00	300.00	700.00	B=$0.1605/min
Free SMS/MMS	500.00	500.00	500.00	C=$0.05/SMS
Bundled value	$ 985.20	$ 1,755.60	$ 3,296.40	D=(free call x B)+(free SMS x C)
2 years contract	$ 864.00	$ 1,344.00	$ 2,352.00	E=24 mths x A
Cost of phone	$ 398.00	$ 98.00	$ -	F
Perceived Values (PV)	$ (276.80)	$ 313.60	$ 944.40	PV=D-E-F

So signing up the M-Extreme plan gives you a gain of S$944 as compared to M-Value plan of �$276.80. You may argue the costs of operation for calls and SMSs are much lower on the operator side. Yes, you are right and this precisely iterates the fact that you must stick to your plan and should not exceed the allocated time or data usage. So I hope these tables will assist you in selecting a good iPhone as well as a good plan to complement it.

article About Select your best iPhone 3GS 32GB plan� - (all-vga-corner)

Telco war

Peace is disrupted yesterday when all 3 telcos are selling iPhone. OCWORKBENCH is the first in Singapore to report live on the iPhone war with a nice chart breaking down the various plans offered by the 3 telcos. If you follow their twitter, you can be updated on last minute surprises offered by M1 and Starhub to sweeten their offerings. Many Singaporeans are queuing up to get their iPhone because monkeys see, monkeys do (as they said in the army). If you are one of them, do you know what plan is suitable for yourself? Or you just sign the cheapest plan to get your dream iPhone?

Factors to consider

I have earlier blogged on some concerns before you upgrade your phone or plan. Perhaps it is good for you to read it before you run down to queue up. It is important that you are sure that you NEED a iPhone before you read further on the plans offered. Many claimed that marketing department in Apple is doing a great job in pushing you a product that you don't need. So don't jump on it if you only make voice calls and send SMSs. It is trendy to carry the latest model 3GS but you look stupid if you have no applications using the data plan. Yes, all iPhone plans come with minimum 12 GB of data plan which is great if you use GPS, MSN, Email, Surf web, Twitter, Internet radio, YouTube, Facebook and watch internet TV. 12GB is a lot of data and most users are unlikely to exceed this quota in a month. Thus, we will not be considering data transfer in our tabulation.

I would like to introduce a term known as the total cost of ownership (TCO) in our evaluation. TCO includes the monthly subscription (voice and data) you are paying and the cost of the phone. It is only fair to compare different plans as there is an amount to pay for the price of the phone for different plans. Below is an example of the Singtel iPhone plan for 3GS 32GB.

iPhone 3GS 32GB		Lite		Value	Plus	Premium
Monthly Fees (S$)		39.00		55.99	95.00	204.99
Extra cost for phone (S$)		658.00		398.00	98.00	0.00
TCO for 2 yrs contract (S$)		1,594.00		1,741.76	2,378.00	4,919.76

After you confirm iPhone is suitable for you, you should consider how many calls you make a month because this is one of the determining factor in various plans. If you are a light user, a 100 minute/month plan may be suitable for you. If you are a heavy user, you should consider the unlimited plan. It may be a good time to take out your mobile bills for the past year and calculate how many minutes you use per month. With this, let's begin to search the best plan for iPhone 3GS 32GB.

Value Plans (<300 minutes/month)

As the name suggests, this plan is suitable for consumer with a budget or makes only few calls. If you choose this plan and use more than 300 minutes, you will be paying a dear premium. So if you use 350 min/month, it is strong advised to select the next higher plan. Based on TCO on the plans offered by telco, the table is derived.

TCO	M-Value	M-Lite	ST-Lite	ST-Value	SH-100	SH-300
50	$ 1,522.00	$ 1,742.00	$ 1,594.00	$ 1,741.76	$ 1,580.00	$ 1,810.00
100	$ 1,522.00	$ 1,742.00	$ 1,594.00	$ 1,741.76	$ 1,580.00	$ 1,810.00
150	$ 1,714.60	$ 1,742.00	$ 1,786.60	$ 1,741.76	$ 1,772.60	$ 1,810.00
200	$ 1,907.20	$ 1,742.00	$ 1,979.20	$ 1,741.76	$ 1,965.20	$ 1,810.00
250	$ 2,099.80	$ 1,742.00	$ 2,171.80	$ 1,934.36	$ 2,157.80	$ 1,810.00
300	$ 2,292.40	$ 1,742.00	$ 2,364.40	$ 2,126.96	$ 2,350.40	$ 1,810.00

This above picture shows the TCO of the value plans. The lower the TCO, you pay lower. So with the min/mth value in the x-axis, move vertically up and the first line you touch is the best plan you should get.

From the graph, you should get M-Lite plan if you using an average of 250 minutes/month. Note that the TCO increases drastically if you exceed the voice minutes in your plan.

Premium Plans (>300 minutes/mth)

Next, we shall consider the premium plans which range from 450 to unlimited minutes/month. The following table is derived.

	M-Extreme	M-Unlimited	ST-Plus	ST-Premium	SH-700	SH-Unlimited
450	$ 2,450.00	$ 4,752.00	$ 2,378.00	$ 4,919.76	$ 2,460.00	$ 4,920.00
500	$ 2,450.00	$ 4,752.00	$ 2,378.00	$ 4,919.76	$ 2,460.00	$ 4,920.00
700	$ 2,450.00	$ 4,752.00	$ 3,148.40	$ 4,919.76	$ 2,460.00	$ 4,920.00
800	$ 2,835.20	$ 4,752.00	$ 3,533.60	$ 4,919.76	$ 2,845.20	$ 4,920.00
900	$ 3,220.40	$ 4,752.00	$ 3,918.80	$ 4,919.76	$ 3,230.40	$ 4,920.00
1000	$ 3,605.60	$ 4,752.00	$ 4,304.00	$ 4,919.76	$ 3,615.60	$ 4,920.00
1500	$ 5,531.60	$ 4,752.00	$ 6,230.00	$ 4,919.76	$ 5,541.60	$ 4,920.00

With the graph, we can see the TCO for such plan has a minimum of S$2,378. So you should be signing for either M-Extreme or SH-700 if you are using 800 minutes/month.

Limitations

There are limitations in this method which should be factored in. Different telcos offer different candies to sweeten the products. M1 has Take-3 plan, Starhub has free TV channels while Singtel has other plans with MIO bundling. This analysis only consider iPhone 3GS 32GB and not 3G 8GB and 3GS 16GB.

Conclusions

To assist you in selecting the plan, the table below will help you in selecting your plan. You will also be able to know your damage in owning a iPhone 3GS 32GB.

mins/mth	Lowest TCO	Plan
50	$ 1,522.00	M-Value
100	$ 1,522.00	M-Value
150	$ 1,714.60	M-Value
200	$ 1,741.76	ST-Value
250	$ 1,742.00	M-Lite
300	$ 1,742.00	M-Lite
450	$ 2,319.80	M-Lite
500	$ 2,378.00	ST-Plus
700	$ 2,450.00	M-Extreme
800	$ 2,835.20	M-Extreme
900	$ 3,220.40	M-Extreme
1000	$ 3,605.60	M-Extreme
1500	$ 4,752.00	M-Unlimited

Looking forward, I predict that with iPhone setting the precedence, data plan will be more affordable to the masses and Singaporeans will be able to try and apply applications in their daily life. After all, Singapore is a small island and well connected wirelessly. We should be able to surf internet while on the move. Having said that, prices will only get lower so I see that there is no need to rush and get a iPhone. Spend some time in reading this blog and understand your needs is better than getting a white elephant which will eventually pass down to your children or your parents when you are sick of this "hi-tech" toy. If election deserves one cooling off day, so do you.