Update May 01, 2010: iPhone on Digi – 3G Speed Tests.
First, visit this page on Digi. Look at the iDigi Price Plan and Payment Options tabs, the figures from which I’ll be using in the calculations later.
I’ll use the 16 GB iPhone and iDigi 88 plan as an example.
For comparison purposes, the calculations will show the total cost you’ll pay over a period of 3 years / 36 months.
I’ll assume that you don’t currently own an iPhone or an existing mobile plan. In other words, you’re starting from scratch.
Cash / Credit card
This plan gives you the iPhone on the spot + 6 months of the iDigi plan.
You’ll pay RM2,144 upfront, which covers the cost of the phone and plan service plus 5% service tax (on the plan itself) for the first 6 months.
Over the period of 3 years / 36 months, you’ll end up paying:
RM2,144 upfront
RM2,772 [RM88 x 30 months (the remainder of the 3-year period) x 1.05 (to account for the 5% service tax)]
TOTAL: RM4,916
EPP 24
This plan gives you the iPhone on the spot.
You pay RM159 per month to cover the cost of the iPhone and the plan service for 24 months, then RM88 per month for the remaining 12 months for the normal iDigi 88 plan (remember that I’m calculating the total cost over 36 months).
Over the period of 3 years / 36 months, you’ll end up paying:
RM3,816 (RM159 x 24 months)
RM1,109 (RM88 x 12 months [the remainder of the 3-year period) x 1.05 (to include the 5% service tax), rounded up]
TOTAL: RM4,925
EPP 24+12
I had to have a salesperson (at the 1-Utama launch in April 2010) explain this to me.
This plan gives you the iPhone on the spot.
You pay RM106 per month to cover the cost of the iPhone and the plan service for 24 months. For the remainder of 12 months, you still continue paying RM106, but this only covers the cost of the iPhone.
Because the monthly RM106 in the third year only covers the cost of the device, you’ll have to pay an additional RM88 each month.
Let’s break this down to make it clearer.
Over the period of 3 years / 36 months, you’ll end up paying:
RM3,816 (RM106 x 36 months)
RM1,109 (RM88 x 12 months [the remainder of the 3-year period) x 1.05 (to include the 5% service tax), rounded up]
TOTAL: RM4,925
The EPP 24 and and EPP24+12 plans are essentially the same as far as the 3-year total cost is concerned. The only difference is, with EPP 24 plan, you pay more each month during the first 24 months. If you go with the EPP 24+12 plan, you pay more in the last 12 months.
There is only a RM9 difference in the 3-year total cost between the Cash / Credit card option and both the EPP plans. If you’re into Discounted Cash Flows calculations, it makes financial sense to just go with one of the EPP plans rather than the Cash / Credit card option.
Just to add another point. Unlike with Maxis plans, you don’t get charged a single extra cent if you exceed the monthly data quota (you get a 1GB cap with the cheapest iDigi 88 plan). As soon as you exceed the monthly cap, Digi reserves the right to throttle the bandwidth to about 128 kbps.