Apple can’t seem to produce iPads fast enough to meet demand, forcing international customers to wait a month longer than previously expected for the new tablet to arrive. Unlike its iPhone counterpart, the iPad — for which pre-orders from outside of the U.S. begin today — will forgo the standard SIM card and instead use a smaller micro SIM form factor. If you haven’t met the micro SIM before, Stacey ‘s video interview with Gemalto, a SIM card producer, provides a solid introduction.
Now that iPad orders are flowing around the globe, international service providers are stepping up with data plan pricing for the 3G models. Here’s a table compiled with plan information by country and carrier — we’ll update as we get more info.
| Country | Provider | Initially Available Plans |
|---|---|---|
| Australia | Vodafone | TBD |
| Canada | Rogers | C$15/mo for 250 MB, C$35/mo for 5 GB |
| France | Orange | €10/mo for 200 MB, €39/mo for 2 GB; both plans include unlimited Wi-Fi at Orange hotspots in France |
| France | SFK | TBD |
| Germany | O2 | €10/mo for 200 MB, €15/mo for 1 GB, €25/mo for unlimited |
| Germany | Vodafone | €19,95/mo for 200 MB, €29,95/mo for unlimited (fair use applies) |
| Italy | Vodafone | €2/day for 500 MB, €30/mo for unlimited |
| Japan | Softbank | Prepaid: ¥4,410/30 days for 1 GB. Postpaid: ¥2,910/mo for unlimited use on 24 month contract |
| Spain | Vodafone | €17,40/mo for 250 MB, €37,12/mo for unlimited |
| Spain | Orange | €3,50/day for unlimited, €35/mo for unlimited |
| Switzerland | Orange | TBD |
| UK | Vodafone | £10/mo for 1 GB, £25/mo for unlimited (fair use capped at 5 GB) |
| UK | Orange | 5p per MB / capped at £40/mo, £2/day for 200 MB, £7.50/week for 1 GB, £15/mo for 3 GB, £25/mo for 10 GB; 3 GB and 10 GB plans include unlimited Wi-Fi at BT Openzone |
| UK | O2 | £2/day for 500 MB, £10 per 30 days and 1 GB, £15 per 30 days and 3 GB; all plans include unlimited Wi-Fi at The Cloud and BT Openzone |
| United States | AT&T | $14.99/mo for 250 MB, $29.99/mo unlimited, both plans include unlimited Wi-Fi at AT&T hotspots |
Related Research from GigaOM Pro (sub. req’d):
has anyone been able to jailbreak and get tethering to work on an ipad? it would be really cool if a 3G ipad could also be used as a MiFi style device sharing its 3G connection.
it would also be interesting to know how locked down these plans are to the iPad. could the sims be used in other devices(such as phones and/or USB dongles) if enlarged to fit snugly in the regular size slots?
I know that the iPad has already been jailbroken and there is a Cydia app called MyWi for iPhone that allows tethering – I suspect it’s only a matter of time before the iPad has a version to share the 3G connection.
Orange: “include unlimited Wi-Fi at BT Openzone”
Unlimited is footnoted as “fair use” is 750 MB per month. Over Wi-Fi. Sigh.
Hi Guys,
For Switzerland you can find all the different offers from the three main telecom providers at the following addresses:
Swisscom: http://www.swisscom.ch/res/internet/mobile-unlimited/tarife-ipad/index.htm?languageId=en
Orange: http://shop.orange.ch/en/internet-subscriptions/Internet-Everywhere-with-micro-SIM/icat/internetmicrosim
Sunrise: http://www1.sunrise.ch/Abonnements-cb_bnAqFI.0CoAAAEkZGdQzDCf-Sunrise-Residential-Site-WFS-fr_CH-CHF.html;pgid=iiXgedGEv4xSR0sX2mk5Uat60000tUloQ901;sid=K8clhGKiaKQnhClKTr8IyspibO8VzIP9EDsykym3mqdlJcjVKVYphGuHypgeeNPCa2Y=
Not all the providers have plans specific to the iPad, however all plans are compatible with the micro-sim and therefore with the iPad.
Hope it helps, cheers, Simon
speaking of MyWii I’ve been using it off my JB iPhone to make it share out via wifi to the iPad and its worked flawlessly!….just could not justify spending more on a 3G iPad plus another ATT data plan
For France, it’s SFR, not SFK, and here are the details (they got leaked):
http://www.clubic.com/tablette-internet-mid/ipad/actualite-339804-orange-forfaits-ipad-sfr.html
6 Euros for 24 hours
9,90 Euros for 3 days
14,90 Euros / month for 250 MB
29,90 Euros / month for unlimited
There are plans released from the two other big Telcos in Australia for the ipad already. The only one not to is Vodafone.
http://www.news.com.au/technology/telstra-unveils-data-plans-for-ipad/story-e6frfro0-1225864189646
So, just to be clear: Are these plans available to people from other countries? That is, if I get an iPad in the US (where I live) and go to Germany, can I buy a 3G plan from O2 or Vodafone to use while I’m there? Or are devices tied to their countries of origin somehow, such that I would have to get the same sort of international data plan from AT&T that I get for my iPhone when traveling internationally? (I’m assuming that an AT&T 3G plan would not work outside the US.)
Nice collection. makes me wish more 3G options in US.
Did anyone notice that to get iPad 3G roaming plan you need to be on a domestic plan in US? Does this mean if you are going out on a month long vacation, you pay 15$ for zero MB data? very bad.
http://buzzintechnology.com/2010/04/apple-ipad-3g-data-plan-faqs/
Why does a tiny country like the UK have multiple provider but the US have a lousy, pathetic provider like AT&T.
Is Steve sleeping with someone at AT&T?