Well, as I said in a previous post, no sooner had Orange announced that they were going to offer a subsidised iPad, Three followed suit.
Three had a rocky start when they arrived on the scene back in the early days of 3G mobiles. There were many complaints about their service and 3G coverage, but according to a colleague who has been with them since the early days they have improved immeasurably.
They’ve always had very keenly priced tariffs and slightly more generous with mobile data compared to their rivals, so I was eager to see what sort of deal they would offer.
They’ve just announced their deals and they didn’t disappoint. They’ve stuck with the same up-front cost as Orange and the £25 per month contract (a saving of £2 per month if you are not with Orange – £27 for new customers). The big difference is the 15GB data allowance that Three are offering compared to Orange’s 1GB peak and 1GB for insomniacs. You lose the 3GB BT Openzone wifi offered by Orange, but I never use the BT Openzone wifi on my iPhone either. For my uses 15GB of 3G more than makes up for it.
So a 16GB 3G & Wifi iPad will cost you £529 or £800 over two years. This puts the monthly data cost at around £11. £11 per month for 15GB or £13 for 1GB that any normal person can use with Orange.
I don’t see any good reason to go for the Orange deal unless you are an existing customer…that happens to work night shifts or suffers with a sleeping disorder. The 1GB “quiet time” data is a bit pointless and Three are offering a vast amount more 3G data for the same price.
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