Even though I'm writing this for iPhone Mojo (part of the pocket Mojo family) you'll notice that I've largely ignored the iPhone 3G hype cycle. Frankly, there's not much I can add to the enromous chatter in the blogosphere. Given that the iPhone 3G was announced weeks ago and Apple seeded a few units to the media under NDA, the hardware story has been done to death.

The real story in Australia are the appalling data plans being spewed forth. I'm going to suggest that 1GB will be a reasonable data allowance for someone planning to do a reasonable volume of web browsing, receives about 50 emails per day and might use some other web services such an RSS reader that they update a couple of times per day.

Telstra's data plans can be found here. I find it hard to beleive that Telstra will be charging $89 for 1GB of data (you'll need to add a call plan and, potentially, an up-front purchase fee). WiFi browsing at Telstra hotspots is included at no charge.

Optus' plans are better but will need to either look at the $149 monthly cap (that includes a generous allowance for phone calls) or $99 per month with a lower call allowance. You can buy an iPhone on Pre-Paid with an upfront payment of either $729 or $849. Thisd includes $400 of credit that can be topped up on demand. For an extra $80 the handset can be unlocked and used with any carrier. WiFi browsing at Optus hotspots is supported but there are fewer than Telstra have.

Vodafone's iPhone offering is the one that totally baffles me. Frankly, I expect telstra to gouge the price and Optus to be not far behind but I epxcted Vodafone to be far more agressive with its pricing., To get 1GB of data you'll need a monthly outlay of $169. This includes a 8GB handset. A 16GB iPhone adds another $3.71 per month.

The one carrier in Australia that's not at the iPhone party is Three. It'sd a shame when you consider that their Mobile Internet packs offer 1GB for $15. Add that to a $29 monthly cap and $30 per month for the handset and about $75 could deliver a decent iPhone package.

 iPhone 3G pricing