By AppleInsider Staff

Published: 12:00 AM EST

Due to their geographical location, New Zealanders will be the first in the world to have the opportunity to purchase an iPhone 3G on Friday (Thursday morning Eastern time), and Vodafone has just announced plans for the region starting at $60 per month. Meanwhile, Telcel of Mexico has also unveiled its iPhone plans, which start at $44 per month.

Vodafone of New Zealand

Vodafone New Zealand will kick-off the worldwide iPhone 3G launch at 12:01 a.m. local time Friday (or 8:01 Eastern time Thursday) at three of its local retail stores -- Auckland City, Wellington, and Christchurch. Plans with 24-month contracts will start at $60 (NZD $80) for an "iPhone 250" offering that includes 120 minutes, 600 text messages and 250MB of data. The entry level plan prices the 8GB iPhone at $415 (NZD $549) and the 16GB model at $528 (NZD $699).

A mid-range iPhone 500 plan is priced at $98 (NZD $130) and includes 250 minutes, 600 text messages and 500MB of data. iPhones with this plan are priced at $339 (NZD $449) for the 8GB model and $453 (NZD $599) for the 16GB model.

The top-tier iPhone 1GB plan is priced at $189 (NZD $250) and includes 600 minutes, 600 text messages, and 1GB of data. With this plan, an 8GB iPhone fetches $150 (NZD $199) and a 16GB iPhone costs $264 (NZD $359).

Additional minutes cost between $0.40 and $0.52 (NZD $0.53 - $0.69), depending on the plan. Extra text messages fetch $0.15 (NZD $0.20) and each additional MB of data costs $0.075 (NZD $0.10), except on the top-tier plan where each additional MB costs just $0.02 (NZD $0.03).

Vodafone New Zealand is also offering the iPhone 3G without a contract at $740 (NZD $979) for the 8GB model and $853 (NZD $1129) for the 16GB model. Data plans for no-contract iPhones are priced at $22.63 (NZD $29.95) for 200MB per month, or $37.74 (NZD $49.95) for 1GB of data per month.



Telcel of Mexico

Separately, Telcel of Mexico has also announced three iPhone plans with 24-month contracts that start at $44 (MXN $459) for a package that includes 200 minutes, 100 text messages and 100MB of data. The 8GB iPhone is priced at $331 (MXN $3419) with this plan and the 16GB model is priced at $454 (MXN $4689).

For $58 (MXN $599) per month, subscribers get 300 minutes, 150 text messages and 150MB of data. With this plan, the 8GB iPhone costs $209 (MXN $2159) and the 16GB iPhone costs $331 (MXN $3419).

Telcel's top-tier plan is priced at $77 (MXN $799) and offers 400 minutes, 200 text messages and 200MB of data. iPhones with this plan are priced at $86 (MXN $889) for the 8GB model and $209 (MXN $2159) for the 16GB model.

Additional minutes to land lines and other Telcel subscribers are priced at $0.11 (MXN $1.15), while those to other carriers cost $0.33 (MXN $3.45). Each additional KB of data costs $0.003 (MXN $0.04), and each additional text message costs $0.08 (MXN $0.85)