iPhones, Plans, and Bargains, Oh My

Verizon iPhone 4 Pre-Sales

Mashable: “If youâ€ re a mobile operator, itâ€ s good to have an iPhone in your inventory. This was proven Thursday as Verizonâ€ s first day of iPhone 4 pre-orders turned out to be the most successful first day of sales in the history of the company.”

I’d imagine that will leave the Apply nay sayers a bit perturbed. The big question for Verizon: will the network hold up under the new load?

Major Carriers Mobile Plans

Fortune: “But now that Verizon (VZ) has the iPhone, many Americans will be taking a closer look at how the rate plans stack up. To help them choose, the cost-saving service BillShrink has produced a handy chart — copied in full below the fold — of the various plans offered by the four major U.S. carriers.”

Nice look at your options on the different carriers. They’re all pretty close, but Sprint and T-Mobile are pushing hard for your business. No iPhones, but plenty of really nice Android phones.

Looking for a Bargain? Try Virgin Mobile.

Fortune: “As I’ve stated before (and I still can’t understand how they do this) Virgin, who use Sprint’s(S) very solid nationwide 3G network, blow them all away by a long shot. For $25 a month (that’s AFTER tax) unlimited data and text, 300 anytime minutes. $40/month bumps you up to 1200 anytime minutes and $60 is unlimited minutes.”

This is pretty darned amazing. $25.00 for 300 minutes with UNLIMITED text and data? Makes me go hmmmmm. Especially if you can get a nice Android phone with tethering.