No, you can’t have an iPhone 3G.
Why? Because Telstra in Tassie don’t have any more in stock; they only received something like 200 of these units, and they sold out sometime on Saturday afternoon.
No really, why can’t I have an iPhone on a different carrier? Well, because you can’t get Optus 3G reception in Tassie, as demonstrated by the following picture:
…does anyone else see my problem?! So even though Optus offer the best data plans out of all the three carriers who are selling the iPhone 3G, I can’t go with them because their 3G coverage in Tassie is non-existent.
So, dear reader, I find myself in a precarious position:
- Go with Telstra’s $30/month plan, which gives me: 22 minutes of calls, 2.5MB of data (yeah, 2.5 MEGABYTES of data, on a 3G phone), and on top of that, I have to pay $399 upfront for my iPhone! To be fair, I do get free Wi-Fi at all Telstra’s Wi-Fi hotspots which equates to pretty much any Maccas, and some places in town…
- Buy iPhone 3G outright for $847 (16GB) and just use it with my current pre-paid SIM. I won’t have any data this way, but at least I’ll have 1c text to all Telstra mobiles!
- Buy iPhone 3G outright for $847 (16GB) and upgrade my current SIM to NextG pre-paid. Data costs are completely ridiculous, far more than the equivalent Optus ($14.95 for 200MB compared to $59 for 200MB with Telstra) or Vodafone data packs, but I’ll have the best coverage…
Choices, choices. I hate it how being Tassie makes us disadvantaged though lack of technology. When a telecommunications has no 3G coverage in an Australian state, that’s just not on. Intelligent Island? Give me a break. Mark my works, while Telstra has the monopoly that it has over the telecommunications industry like it has currently, Tassie will continue to remain the most un-intelligent island. For example, it currently costs Internode (an Internet Service Provider) SIX times as much to ship data (through Basslink) from Melbourne to Tassie than it does for them to ship data from Melbourne to New York. Again, corporate Telstra screws the small guy.
Telstra really is the epitome of a bloated telecommunications company. The things they do well – coverage – are more than offset by the things they do badly – price, service, value for money.
But enough of Telstra and their corporate monopoly. Now, how about we talk about something else not-funny? Something, say like the so-not-funny Year 12 funny photo? Picture after the jump – click on the link, if you don’t know what “after the jump” means. 
Here at freshbytes, I personally respect Facebook over MySpace any of the day, as I’ve outlined previously. So it’s not a big surprise, then, that we have built, brick by brick, the Freshbytes Wall. It’s that little piece of ajax-love in the top right hand corner of every page, that sweet widget that allows you to post your comments about the site, do shout-outs, and all that kind of funky stuff. You can additionally view all the comments on the Freshbytes Wall page, where you can also add comments – and they’ll show up on the Freshbytes Wall (and consequently, on every page)! Cool, huh?
Speaking of freshbytes, the Freshbytes Forums are looking a little unloved. Why not register today? You’ll be able to chat with us supergeeks over teh interwebs, and discuss anything that comes to mind…
Radi8: We had the St Vinnies Ball this friday, and it was actually really good! Besides yours truly not making any effort what-so-ever to dress up, there were people there that looked fantastic in their St. Vinnies clothes, and then there was Adam… 
But really, it was a fun-filled night with the Life Dancers dancing to Greased Lightning, the Macarena, and many other great hits. It was excellent to see a few faces that I hadn’t seen before/had never seen before – I hope you continue to come to Radi8. There was one thing that was pretty amusing, though, and it was that with the exception of <8 people, the whole crowd was exclusively Calvin. I mean, really! Where are all you other teens going? Maybe to CrossEyed Youth?
Anyways, as we Calvin-ers in Years 11 & 12 prep for mid-years, I encourage to tell one person about freshbytes, provided they don’t already know about it.
freshbytes – the freshest bytes on the web, MUCH more than random zeroes and ones!
One last thing, before you get too bored: The Radi8 Digital Scavenger Hunt video for the week! This week, it’s Dean T, Paul C, Emily L, Blair T, Simon J and Danny T in a fun-filled adventure where they sing in Kingston Town, scale tall buildings, do the leap-frog in Franklin Square, and where boys try on girl’s dresses… Enjoy!
July 14th, 2008 at 10:06 am
Good post about “HELL”stra.
C’mon, you’d have to consider Optus. Data over coverage, HELL YES!
Someone will state that I have shit all coverage down my way, but I don’t care. Data FTW!!
July 15th, 2008 at 9:55 am
Somebody didn’t look at the picture. Unless you live somewhere like NextByte (as if you would), there is no point in getting a 3G Optus phone,because that’s the only place you’ll get reception. THERE IS NO OTHER TOWER THAN IN THE CENTRE OF TOWN!!!!! Before making ridiculous comments, try just checking the pictures that were POSTED here. It’s not like you even had to do research, it’s been done for you. You’re wasting our time with stupid, illogical rants with no relevance to society. Much like this one.
July 15th, 2008 at 11:55 am
While I do appreciate your comments, turkeybrain, I think you’ve misunderstood the post and consequently, the point.
Haha, now that you’ve noted to me that your comment was directed at Chris, I’ll tone it down a bit, but explain for the both of you…
Believe me, I’ve looked at the picture. What it tells is that Optus has exactly ONE Wi-Fi hotspot in Tassie. That blue dot isn’t the number of Optus towers. It’s the single Wi-Fi hotspot in Tassie.
Now, in regards to 3G Optus coverage in Tassie – according to that picture, there is none. However, I’ve since been informed that Optus DO have 3G coverage, as laid out by this page here, but I’m yet to have independent confirmation of this fact (I still need someone to buy an iPhone and try Optus 3G coverage).
Otherwise, Optus 2G reception is fine in Tassie. GPRS for data?! Pffft.
turkeybrain, please clarify your posts next time, so I don’t waste a rant…