FOR once, current telco customers stand to gain in the promotions stakes.

In their bid to woo new customers, telcos have traditionally thrown carrots to new clients.

However, where the new iPhone 3G is concerned, current SingTel mobile customers are in luck - they can save money on a two-year plan and also pick up the eagerly anticipated phone.

For the first time, the telco is allowing existing customers to re-sign and get a phone upgrade on a new plan, while still in the first year of their current contract.

Previously, upgrades were available only to those who were more than a year into their two-year contracts, and even then, they had to top up $100.

Now, those in their first year of contract can re-sign their mobile plans by topping up $350. Although that sum is $250 more, the incentive is that customers are effectively extending their contract period by only several months instead of having to wait out the full two years for an upgrade.

The ones benefiting most from this would be those who are contracted on a higher price plan. SingTel has worked it such that those on the more expensive plan get to pay less for the phone.

For example, those currently on the iTwo Plus plan who pay $82.93 monthly, can continue on this rate if they sign a new contract. Under this plan, they can pick up the 8GB device for only $49. Add the top-up of $350 and the 8GB phone is theirs for $399.

This is better than for new SingTel subscribers who have to sign up with new two-year contracts before they can get their hands on the coveted device. (See table.)

If you chose just that plan, be prepared to cough up at least $1,314.32 on the cheapest voice plan for the 8GB device. That's the sum of 24 months of service at $25.68 a month and $698 for the phone.

If you do the sums, it's lower than the black market rate of $1,600 some paid to get the phone from Hong Kong when it was launched there in July.

For data plans to go along - to tap the iPhone's 3G Internet connectivity - SingTel has prepared three data plans that offer data download speeds of 3.6Mbps.

Surprisingly, you can save a little by going a la carte with SingTel's offerings.

The best choice is the combination of iTwo Value, with 300 free minutes and 500 SMS, and the individual 1000 mobile broadband plan. It brings the total sum to $2,041.68. That's $287.32 less than the iFlexi Plus.

While it gives 200 less outgoing free minutes, all of SingTel's individual data plans provide 50GB of data usage, compared to the meagre 1GB, 2GB or 3GB for its iFlexi plans.

The downside is the individual mobile broadband 1000 package is limited to download speeds of 1Mbps.

However, if a song is 4MB, 50GB still lets you download 12,500 songs, albeit over a longer period of time. That is still more songs than the 16GB iPhone 3G can handle.

Another piece of good news:SingTel will provide free surfing at wireless@sg even after the scheme ends in 2009.

This story was first published in The Straits Times Digital Life on 27 August 2008.

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