Orange UK iPhone calling plans announced!

It is now official Orange has confirmed that the iPhone will be coming to its network on November 10 and they are now also allowing pre-orders of the phone. Shops will be open from 7am to handle the high demand and they will even ship the phone to you, arriving November 11th or later, free of charge (unless you want deliver on a Saturday and have to pay a hefty £10.99 charge).

The calling plans are disappointing to say the least. The phone will cost the same on PAYG on Orange and on O2 but the plans you get a frankly rubbbish on Orange. Firstly there is a tiny limit of just 250MB per month (12MB per day) for PAYG users which is no where compared to 02's "unlimited" policy. So let's say you top up £20 on Orange you can get the following perks: 600 free texts and free music or 200 evening and weekend minutes or 15p per minute calls and texts or call abroad from 5p. With o2 for a £15 top up you can get unlimited texts and web, 1000 minutes to any UK landline or O2 mobile (from one postcode), 150 UK off-peak minutes, unlimited calls and texts to O2 mobiles, 100 free international minutes or 100 minutes and 100 texts to any UK landline or mobile. Plus of course the unlimited browsing. This is a much better deal.

On pay monthly, it's a different story - for £30 a month on O2 you'll get 75 mins and 125 texts, on Orange that'll be a more generous allowance of 150mins and 250 texts (double). The phone subsidy is the same for the 18month contract. For more heavy users at £35 a month both networks will offer you 600 texts and 500 minutes. There is one thing I haven't mentioned though - o2 gives you unlimited internet, Orange gives you a measly 750MB per month. £45 a month and £75 a month users will get the same number of minutes and texts on both networks but there is a final £125 a month option which gives you unlimited calls and texts, 100 roaming minutes and 20MB roaming data which may be fantastic for very, very heavy users.

All in all, Orange has made the iPhone continue to seem like a very expensive purchase, even more-so on it's "best" 3G network, there are some benefits for users on it's £30 a month plan but everyone else will be better off on O2 - that is of course if O2 has 3G and isn't congested in your area.