perth bound

Hello, does anyone out there know whether my Iphone will work in oz.
I'm on orange contract and got ages left too.
Just wondering what others have done regarding mobile phones.
thanks

johnnye

It will work on roaming but probably cost you a fortune. I had an orange phone when I first arrive with 6 month left on the contract which I had to pay for. Best to join one of the Aussie networks. If you can get your iphone unlocked then you will probably be able to use it here. Best not to cling to UK stuff when here.

Main Network choices - optus, virgin, Telstra, Vodafone

Warmapple

I have a UK iphone working in Australia it works on all networks. you just need it unlocked. A man on your local market should be able to help if you are not confident to do it yourself

silver

Get it unlocked or it will be very expensive to use... best to go the official route unless you are really confident with coping with updating and reunlocking (unlocking an iphone is a bit different to your average Nokia etc)

For networks in OZ Telstra NextG (3g850) is by far the best in terms of speed and coverage when used with the Iphone (but its more expensive), Three is a good option as includes roaming to Telstra NextG.Vodafone are a reasonable option as they have deployed edge on 2g meaning reasonable speeds outside of the metro areas.

Optus and Virgin are well priced but 3G coverage with the Iphone is no where near as good (The Iphone doesn't work on there yesG 3g900 network) and there networks are highly subscribed due to good pricing.

perth bound

thanks 4 replies. heard that unlocking slows everything down, any truth in that for those that ave dun it? thanks

mark213

No - no issues.
Just make sure they do it right and they dont jailbreak it and then brick your phone.

Warmapple

no issues of slowing down for me. I recommend Vodaphone in Aus but thats just me!

lapin_windstar

Vodafone are good so long as you never, ever have to talk to them for any reason - their network and prices are good but their customer service (on phone and in store) is abysmal.

LouiseR

My friend has had huge problems with Vodafone customer service, she's had to ring them twice over them making errors on her bill, 4 hours later, been cut off several times, it's just about been sorted... till the next month!

silver

Or you really need to use your phone out in the bush.. then it has to be Telstra NextG

sniffydog

Have the same problem - orange want me to pay contract in full. I intend not to - keep paying monthly and when they let me do best plan review I'll reduce payments.

Orange will do an official unlock for £20. I will go this route and go for a SIM package in Oz.

newjersey

Ask them how long would this unlock takes. Vodaphone rep told me when I wanted to buy a then latest Blackberry, a few years back that was, that the unlock code "takes 3-4 months to process" and then is simply keyed in on the phone keyboard. I wanted to buy a new phone without a contract altogether but the way they treated unlocks would mean to have Either lock myself in to a contract and get out of it when unlock code would come in or get a phone I could not use with my operator for months which was not a viable option either. This is a bit different to having had gone through the contract like you had, but I thought worth sharing.

IvanM

Unlocks should take hours. I unlocked a Vodafone phone online and it was in an instant.

silver

I agree with you technically they should.

I suspect this may have been a while back and something to do with the OP buying a contract/locked phone and trying to get it immediately unlocked as opposed to sourcing an unlocked phone. The way the phone co.s have dealt with locks has changed over time and has always been confusing to the consumer (and their staff sometimes).