T-Mobile UK are the first network out of the blocks to announce their price plans and tariffs for the iPad 2, which is due for release this Friday.
By already being a T-Mobile customer you’ll benefit from discounted prices, for example you’ll pay £199 up front for the tablet instead of the £229 price point for new customers.
The £199/£229 pricing is for the entry level 16GB 3G and WiFi model, which will of course tie you in with a 24 month contract. Existing T-Mobile customers will pay £25 a month for their data, and new customers £27 per month. Your monthly payment will get you 1GB of mobile data to use, plus an additional 1GB which can be used between the hours of 12am and 10am.
On its own, the 16GB 3G and WiFi iPad 2 will set you back £399, which is pretty reasonable. We’ve done our maths, and 24 months at £25 plus the £199 outright fee you’d pay for the tablet will set you back a total of £799 over the 2 year period.
To us it seems like quite a pricey option, but if you just have to get your hands on Apple’s latest next-gen tablet and you can’t afford to buy one outright, it could well be a viable option for you.
The iPad 2 will be available to order online from 5pm March 25th, and T-Mobile will be taking orders via telephone and online as of then. We expect the other UK networks to join the race and announce their price plans in the next day or two.
If you’re signing up as a new customer, the price goes up to £229.
For that, you’ll be getting the 16GB iPad 2, and you’ll be signing up for a 2-year data plan which is £25 a month for existing T-Mobilers and £2 more for new customers.
This buys you 1GB of data a month, plus 1GB to use in T-Mobile’s declared “quiet time” of 12am – 10am.
So, as an existing customer your total outlay over the 2 years would be £799 and as a new member of the T-Mobile club, it would be £877.
For a tablet that retails at £399, you need to ask yourself just how badly you need the 3G data – and consider that your network may now allow hotspot sharing using your iPhone with iOS 4.3.
If you do want to take the T-Mobile plunge, it will be taking orders online and on the phone from 5pm on 25 March.