Vodafone and Telecom have both opened pre-orders for the iPhone 5, putting it front and centre of the companys' respective homepages this morning.

There are no pre-orders currently available on Apple's New Zealand site.

VODAFONE

Vodafone's plans are at its iPhone buy page. The company has a limited selections of plans available, starting from $80 per month over 24 months.

Cheaper plans mean paying up-front for the iPhone, Unless you get the 16GB model, for which you can pay $0 up-front on plans costing $120-$170 per month.

It costs $649 up-front for a 16GB model on an $80 per month, 24-month plan or $199 up-front for that same 16GB model with $100 a month 24-month plan.

The 32GB models costs $799 ($80 per month/24-month plan), $349 ($100 per month/24-month plan) or $149 (all other plans).

The 64GB models costs $949 ($80 per month/24-month plan), $499 ($100 per month/24-month plan) or $299 (all other plans)

The iPhone 5 is available in both white and black at all storage capacities from Vodafone. Pre-orders are only available online.

TELECOM

Telecom offers a broader range of plan prices than Vodafone does, starting from just $39 per month on a 24-month plan. In each case, you get a discount on the phone, with the 16GB costing $0 up-front on plans worth $139 or $159 per month over 24 months. The 32GB is $0 up-front on the $159 plans only.

On the $39 per month plan, you'll pay $929 for the 16GB phone up-front, and the up-front price reduces to $779 for a $59 per month, 24-month plan.

It reduces again to $399 for an $89 per month, 24-month plan, and costs $199 up-front for a $109 per month, 24-month plan.

COMPARISON

The most obvious thing to note is that if you pay $199 up-front for the iPhone, Vodafone offers you more data (2GB vs 1.5GB) and more texts (2500 vs 600), but fewer minutes (300 vs 500) on a cheaper per-month plan ($100 per month, compared to $109 per month).

Even so, Telecom's selection of cheaper plans may make it tempting. However, since in all cases you're locked into the 24-month plan, it's important to weigh up your plan needs before paying up-front for a phone.

-PC World

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