The HKD238/month Unlimited Plan requires a 18 month contract.

According to all the small print this plan does offer unlimited HSDPA local data usage, which includes “Internet Browsing” (as defined by Smartone-Vodafone), data traffic from native iPhone apps that is not considered “Internet Browsing”.

In the small print it explicitly indicates that this “unlimited data” does not include tethering, but as mentioned in other post. The way tethering is done on the iPhone, carrier should not able to tell the difference.

For some reason I can't copy and paste the link here but look under hot offers on the price plans section of their website.

Please don't get me wrong.

I am definitely not belittling your offer to share your experience with Smartone-Vodafone. It is most definitely appreciated.

When I say “… it is a scam…” I am referring to Smartone-Vodafone. Offering services that iPhone users may not be able to take advantage.

BTW: my monthly plan is neither of the currently available IOM Value Pack. Mine is the contract-free version of the plan, which is no longer available.

Now, the 96/116 Value Packs I have looked at are fine, but like you said, those are base prices which means fees+surcharges have not yet been added – but you estimated your 116 plan to cost you at least HKD163/month. My price of HKD180 has included all the surchages already, 100MB local HSDPA and the unlimited browsing. Although it is approximately HKD17 more expensive (if not less) per month than your valuation, I thought with more minutes, 100MB local data free and unlimited web browsing + youtube (I do surf quite a bit) it was a price jump I was willing to make. Some people may choose this option, but if they don't surf as much, then they don't. I just thought people should be aware that there is another viable alternative.

It is besides the point now as you had already committed to a 15 months contract. Although, your experience serves to let other readers know not to fall for any scams sales people at the stores have for the iPhone.

I see what you guys are saying about the extra data ($15/15MB), where it's better to pay as you go rather than lock myself for 100MB/month (incl in price of plan). But I think that since I would hover around 100MB or more anyway/month for these non-Internet Browsing apps, and with free rebate, the marginal cost of paying a couple dollars more for unlimited internet browsing seemed worth it. Without the free rebate, I would not have chosen this plan.

I guess what you're trying to say is that the internet browsing on the iphone isn't as useful as the regular data allowance, but the prices of the two plans are quite similar. I'll let you know how it goes when I see the next phone bill.

I had always recommended people subscribe to either of the standard $96 or #116 IOM Value Pack and nothing else.

100MB will not be enough for a month to allow you to use the iPhone freely. It is much better to pay the $15/15MB as you need it rather than locking yourself into any of the other data added value service.

My current monthly bill for my non-contract VOM Value Pack is about HKD136 + HKD12 (MTR) + HKD120 = HKD268/month that's close to 600MB of Internet Browsing and about 120MB of extra data, On certain months I use much less than 120MB of extra data so my bill can be as low as HKD163/month.

You should not have took the unlimited “Internet Browsing” on the iPhone that is not as useful as having regular data allowance.

BTW: how long is the contract that you signed.

For you it's cheaper cos of the $80 discount so is marginally worth it, but otherwise I don't think this plan is worth it.

Just an FYI I did manage to find a plan with smartone-vodafone that allows me to have unlimited web-browsing and 100MB local HSDPA per month… it's not listed on the website but a sales person can introduce it to you. It's at 260 a month but the sales person gave me a free rebate from an HTC phone another customer bought to bring the price back down to around 180 a month which I thought was a fair deal. Ask about it if you already haven't!

All other traffic will be counted as extra data (HSDPA) charge, which will be charged at the HKD15.00/15MB rate.

DO NOT subscribe to any of the other VAS services that Smartone-Vodafone claims you need.

PS: you should not be using POP3 email, you should always use IMAP or Exchange mail protocols. Using POP3 mail causes copies of your emails in multiple places, which is not want you want to do.

This seems to differ from what your post says… Are you sure about this?

Yes, it is true that all other traffic are counted as extra data charges outside of “Internet Browsing” traffic allowed.

PS: as I advised the other reader, Richard, never believe the sales people at the stores. 99% of them do not know the details, but only what the company tells them to say.

When I say “… YouTube native application…” I mean the application; the one with the old TV icon that came with every iPhone out-of-the-box.

Do not believe what Smartone-Vodafone staff tell you. They are only repeating information provided to them by the company and for some reason the company does not bother to verify the technical details before issuing information to their front line staff.

I had been using the iPhone 3G MMS and Tethering on Smartone-Vodafone network since iPhone firmware 3.0 was released by Apple. You can read my post MMS With iPhone 3.0 On iPhone 3G and Tethering iPhone 3.0 for details of how to accomplish this.

Since the iPhone 3GS was made available by Apple Hong Kong on July 10th, I had being using MMS and Tethering on Smartone-Vodafone on their network also.

Yes, both of these features can be turned off by the carrier from without touching your phone or your SIM card, so for these to work you need to make sure both features are enabled for your account. The default is to enable them.

“Any traffic through the Mobile Safari browser on the iPhone and any traffic from the use of the YouTube native application are all considered “Internet Browsing” according to the Smartone-Vodafone billing system…”

When you mean the Youtube native application are you talking about the YouTube button (the one with the old TV as an icon) or just Youtube.com on Safari

She implied that the problems started since I started using the iPhone 3gs which is true but it really should not be due to the phone.

Anyway I encourage anyone else having a problem to submit an email to them via customer_service@smartone-vodafone.com so they can see it's a widespread problem.

Had not encountered 500 in the past but since July 10th there have been much more.