Hi ScottC that is a neat alternative, so do you actually stick that onto the alternate SIM you want to use int he Iphone? Will it cause problems (ie. stuck and can't get it out?) As I heard the getting the SIM out is a bit tricky in the Iphone.

So you don't need to hack into the OS oh the Iphone?

It sits on top of your current sim. Some phones will require you to cut a little hole in the sim to fit the chip on the adapter, but with a hole puncher that is a 10 second thing. I'll post a full review with photos later on my blog.

No you don't need to hack anything. It tricks the IPhone into thinking your SIM is the original one that it was locked to. I had one for a while and it worked fine. Later I unlocked my IPhone permanently so I could put any old SIM in it. I was taking this SIM with the sticky thing in and out every once in a while and eventually it started to wear out. So I got a replacement SIM from my phone company and all is well now.

Wow!
Thanks this looks like the solution for me. As I already havea PAYG SIM card at the places I am travelling abroad and I don't mind keeping my local contract with O2 when I am at home.

I just don't want to muck around with the OS especially given the phone is so new.

So there shouldn't be any problems with the SIM card getting stuck in the Iphone with this SIM.

No guarantee that it'll work in the new iPhone. Chances are Apple know exactly how these things work, and managed to find a way to block them.

Are there any data contracts in any European country that have a 3G data flatrate that is available throughout Europe, or at least in many European countries? These per-MB roaming prices are just crazy.

Do let us know when you get ur Iphone 3G!:D

You can check prepaidgsm.net but pretty sure there's only international voice plans, not data plans. So things like United Mobile.

Country-specific plans are always cheaper. Data on a per minute basis is not cheap at all. Some prepaid SIMs have plans you can subscribe to but data is not unlimited maybe something like a few hundred MB or a couple of GB at most.

If you look at the iPhone 3G plans rolling out across the world, most do not have unlimited data.

Which is why it's odd that people complained about the lack of 3G in the original iPhone. Sure there are 3G networks all over the world but the costs of using them are prohibitive and those carriers aren't prepared to offer unlimited data, even though iPhone will really push mobile data usage like no other device before it.

France has unlimited data for less than €10 per month. However it does NOT include email! You only get 10MB of email per month and you start paying a lot over 10MB.

That said, I use Fring chat/VoIP and the web unlimited in France for a fair price.

Which carrier and which prepaid SIM?

Is it GPRS or UTMS or HSDPA?

If you are following my post on France, there is only one carrier with the IPhone. Orange. They have GPRS, EDGE and UMTS/HSDPA. And the data plan I referred to is only for post-paid account I think. I've never tried pre-paid here.

Kind of surprising because at least prepaid rates in France are higher than those in Germany, Italy, England.

Ten euros for unlimited data is a great deal. I don't think iPhone plans in neighboring countries have unlimited data, even in Italy which will have two competing carriers offering iPhones.

3G data is fairly cheap in Europe. For example, 3 UK gives you 1GB a month for 10 pounds ($20), or 3GB for 15 pounds, prepaid:
http://www.three.co.uk/personal/prod...nd_/detail.omp

And it roams for free (data) in the "3 like home" countries, which are
Austria, Hong Kong, Italy, Denmark, Ireland, Sweden.

If you want to use it with a laptop, they'll sell you a Huawei E220 HSDPA modem for 50 pounds.

T-Mobile UK offers 40MB/day at 2.50 pounds for 5 days, prepaid. If you don't prearrange that deal, it's 1 pound a day. This deal doesn't work when roaming outside the UK.

I played with a 3G iphone tonight, not impressed, of course I don't care for the orignal iphone much but they still haven't gotten the keybord problems 'fixed' to my liking. I want to be able to use two thumbs to type :)

Fanboys and gals here get to buy iPhones in Sydney in under nine hours thanks to a midnight launch by Optus. Theirs is the pick of the three telcos for a value priced plan, according to this story.

As a happy customer with a 3G HSPDA plan (AUD$30 for 5Gb/mth incl. 'free' Huawei 3G modem), I am hoping to use that existing 3G SIM in a vodafone-locked iPhone - once the hype has died down.

Do you think it's possible and a good idea to get Vodafone to duplicate a SIM for me in order to have another SIM (using my existing 3G plan) for the iPhone?