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News >> Technology >>
iPhone may raise your bill by 25 percent
By siliconindia
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Tuesday, 26 August 2008, 23:46 IST
Mumbai: Even as Apple's iPhone came at a big price, this touch-screen handset is also expected to raise its users' monthly bills by 25 percent.
"iPhone will increase its owners' bills by more than 25-30 percent of what they used to pay earlier, especially if he uses all the functions that the phone offers in the country ," said Romal Shetty, Executive Director of the research firm KPMG.
And the beneficiaries of this increased bill will be Vodafone and Bharti Airtel - the two service providers who launched the iPhone in India, as they have come up with special iPhone-specific data plans that are basically aimed at promoting net-surfing on their networks.
While Vodafone is giving 250 MB and 600 MB data usage free per month on a plan of Rs 799 and Rs 999, respectively, Bharti Airtel is offering free 500 MB per month on iPhone-specific plans that will have a basic rent of Rs 600 per month.
But many feel using the iPhone is quite expensive. As per a report appeared in The Economic Times, telecom analysts feel that the plans introduced by the service providers are not economical enough, as the iPhone will encourage users to spend more through its myriad value added services (VAS) and bundling strategies.
For Manoj Mohta, head of another analysis firm CRISIL Research, it's the lack of 3G services that makes the iPhone too expensive for too little in return. "Only after 3G comes in will the service providers launch more of data-oriented plans. But until then it will remain an expensive proposition. And also, there is not sufficient Indian-specific content available for such a phone," said Mohta.
Also, iPhone users will need to repeatedly use iTunes to download content. This is because the iPhone does not have any Bluetooth services that can transfer or get music from another phone.
Sanjay Gupta, chief marketing officer for mobile services at Bharti Airtel , told Mumbai Mirror that 98 percent of people who use the iPhone globally have heavy data usage. "Our aim will be to promote that data usage here too. The iPhone is already known for its VAS like GPRS, maps and iTunes," said Gupta.