Thanks to reader, Adam R. who wrote in to let us know Australian rates have been revealed, and his Blackberry can now “go the way of the dodo”.

First up is Optus who’ve announced both pre-paid and post-paid plans. Pre-paid Turbo Caps start at AUS$30 for an AUS$30 “mycredit”, AUS$110 “mybonus”, and AUS$30 “mytime money” — but no “mydata”. At AUS$100 you get 100/800/100 and Plus 1GB “mydata”. On these plans, and 8GB iPhone 3G will run you AUS$729 and 16GB, AUS$849. Not confusing enough for non-Ozzies, plan rates weigh in at AUS$0.78/min. for national calls,AUS$0.35 per “Flagfall” call, and AUS$02.2/KB weekdays and AUS$1.1/KB for “iZoo Browsing”.

Read on for Post-paid, Telestra’s first statement, Canadian craziness, and some Swedish relief!

Optus’ Post-paid is just as impenetrable for me, with Cap plans ranging from AUS$19 for 100MB, AUS$50 of calls/SMS (and more?), and AUS$0.47 per 30 seconds (?) for national calls, to AUS$179 for 1GB and AUS$1500 of calls/SMS (and more??), and AUS$0.35 per 30 sec. national calls (?!). Both plans have AUS$0.35 “flagfall” per call rates, and AUS$0.25 per SMS.

But it gets stranger! On post-paid, you pay off your iPhone over the course of a 12 or 24 month contract. AUS$51 or AUS$21 for an 8GB or AUS$61 or AUS$26 for a 16GB on the low end, AUS$23 or AUS$0 for 8GB or AUS$33 or AUS$0 on the high.

(Seriously, if an Australian reader can explain that to us like we’re 5th grader, we’d really appreciate it! Crikey!)

Telestra’s Australian rates, and Swedish and Canadian updated after the break!

Here’s Telestra so far:

The Next G™ iPhone 3G™ plans start at $30 per month with an upfront cost of $279 for the 8GB model and $399 for the 16GB model. Customers will receive the 8GB iPhone 3G™ model at no cost with the $80 plan and either the 8GB or the 16GB model at no cost with plans starting at $100 per month. All plans include free Wi-Fi access at Telstra hotspots and require a 24-month contract.

Mind boggling voice and data rates to be detailed later, I assume?

UPDATE: Global TV in British Columbia aired a report on Rogers and the Canadian backlash:

Meanwhile, Canadians continue to protest, with major national and international news outlets picking up the story of GSM monopoly Rogers iPhone plans, and rumor has it there may be some more movement on their part sometime prior to launch:

Customers are not restricted just to the 4 iphone bundles that were announced & are able to select from most of our other voice & data plans. We do not have an unlimited data plan, although we are looking at potentially tweaking some of the data plan bucket sizes. More to follow. Bruce M. Mann Vice President Investor Relations Rogers Communications Inc.

Maybe it has a little something to do with the CDMA competition embarrassing them by offering truly reasonable data rates ($30 unlimited!) on their iClone iPhone competitors, like Telus for the HTC Touch Diamond and Bell for the Samsung Instinct?

Sweden, of course, has already seen Telia cave to public outcry over their iPhone plans (which were crazier than even the Canadians):

Swedish iPhone carrier Telia has revised its service offerings for the soon to be released handset. Instead of modifying the plans for the iPhone 3G, the carrier has chosen to allow users to pick from its existing plans for other mobile phones, then add a 199 SEK (roughly $33) unlimited data option.

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Updated! iPhone 3G International Update: Australia Plans & Prices, Canada Stumbles, Sweden Crumbles?

Two of the Scandinavian nations have just released their iPhone 3G plans. First up is TeliaSonera, with iMini plans starting with 18 month contracts at 299 SEK for 100 min./SMS/MB, with 8GB handsets for 2495 SEK and 16GB for 3295 SEK. iMidi is 250/250/250, and topping out with iMaxi at 859 SEK for 1000/1000/1000 and handsets for 1395 SEK or 2195 SEK.

There’s an iMidi plan as well, and 2-year contracts gets a handset discount. Still, that a US$145 a month obligation for 1GB of data… Ouch.

But it’s not as bad as Netcom in Norway! iTalk Small is 399 NOR for 100/100/100, with 1390 NOR or 2290 NOR for the handset, and iTalk Large is 1099 NOR for 1000/1000/1000 with 1 NOR or 890 NOR for the handset. That’s $221 a month for 1GB!

And I thought Canadians were getting hosed. What happened to mythical Midgard data pipes, where costs are negligible and speeds are the stuff of legend? Is the evil Loki… er… Nokia behind it? iPhone 3G Thor, taste them thine hammer!

Read

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iPhone 3G in Scandinavia: Swed Data Rates? Norway!

In keeping with other recent, ridiculously short and detail-free iPhone statements:

TeliaSonera today announced it has signed an agreement with Apple to bring the iPhone to Sweden, Norway, Denmark, Finland, Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia later this year.

By Odin-One-Eye, the iPhone is coiling its way across the globe like the World Serpent in search of its tasty Thor-snack. Does this mean Ragnarok for Nokia on its home turf, or just that mythological metaphors strain awfully fast in blog intros?

Gotcha.

Table shattering score card now link list:

Launched: Austria (T-Mobile), France (Orange), Germany (T-Mobile), Ireland (O2), UK (O2), USA (AT&T)

Announced: Africa (Orange), Argentina (America Movil), Australia (Vodafone / SingTel), Austria (Orange), Belgium (Orange), Brazil (America Movil), Canada (Rogers), Chile (America Movil), Columbia (America Movil), the Czech Republic (Vodafone), Denmark (TeliaSonera), Dominican Republic (America Movil/ Orange), Ecuador (America Movil), Egypt (Vodafone / Orange), El Salvador (America Movil), Estonia (TeliaSonera), Finland (TeliaSonera), Greece (Vodafone), Guatamala (America Movil), Honduras (America Movil), India (Vodafone / SingTel), Italy (Vodafone / Telecom Italia), Jamaica (America Movil), Jordan (Orange), Latvia (TeliaSonera), Lithuania (TeliaSonera), Mexico (America Movil), New Zealand (Vodafone), Nicaragua (America Movil), Norway (TeliaSonera), Paraguay (America Movil), Peru (America Movil), Philippines (SingTel), Poland (Orange), Portugal (Vodafone / Orange), Puerto Rico (America Movil), Romania (Orange), Singapore (SingTel), Slovakia (Orange), South Africa (Vodafone), Switzerland (Swisscom / Orange), Turkey (Vodafone), Uruguay (America Movil)

Rumored: Netherlands (?),

Note: Extent of America Movil and Orange Africa deployment not yet fully detailed.

Lately I’ve been ending these by asking “Who’s next?” but, honestly at this point, “who’s left?”

Anyone want dibs on Antarctica?

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iPhone Risk: TeliaSonera Scandi-Mania and Baltic Bash!

During our last regularly scheduled podcast, we received an dispatch from Hong Kong written by one Janric. We already knew that there were somewhere in the neighborhood of 400,000 unlocked iPhones in China alone, and Janric confirmed that you can’t walk down a Hong Kong alley without tripping over somebody that has one:

I just want to comment out on the news about the 400K iPhones that are loose in china. I’m based in Hong Kong and it’s no secret that you can buy the iphone here almost anywhere. The iPhone is such a hit here that I can almost see 1 iPhone per day (excluding mine ofcourse). In my office alone, there are about 5 unlocked iPhones in use.

Don’t believe it? Check out these photos that Janric snapped in an area of Causeway Bay – just a random two block stroll:

We’ve heard firsthand reports that it’s pretty much the same situation on the opposite side of the planet (Sweden) as well. So basically it’s as easy to get an unlocked iPhone in areas Apple hasn’t made official yet as it is to get a locked-up one in the official zones. If Apple wants to get their preferred revenue sharing going in these places, they need to step up the pace of worldwide releases.

Thanks, Janric!

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Unlocked iPhones All Over Hong Kong