I was excited when I saw this.

This is not a hoax. Click here or visit maxis website to verify it for yourself.

Anyone can book the iPhone now and if you place your booking before 17th March 2009 11:59pm, you may be invited for the official launch at KL Convention Centre on 20th March – 22nd March.

The iPhone will be tied up to a maxis plan, check out the rate plans here.

I have done a breakdown on the rate plans to determine which best fits our budget. The plans on offer are the 6-month Value Plus, 12-month iValue and 24-month iValue contracts.

First up we have the 6-month Value Plus contract.

If you are not happy with maxis’ coverage or services, yet you want to own a legitimate iPhone (now I do not know if the phone is SIM-locked to maxis only), you may consider chosing one of the Value Plus plans. However, you have to pay RM2540 upfront for an 8GB iPhone 3G, or RM2960 upfront for a 16GB iPhone. Even on the cheapest rate plan (the Value Plus 80), you are going to pay RM503.33/RM573.33 per month to fully own an iPhone 3G after 6 months. No free Data Allowance is included in Value Plus plans.

Bear in mind that if you own an iPhone, it is extremely likely that you will spend a lot of time online (which incurs Data Usage), therefore an extra RM99/month for unlimited Data Usage plan is advisable. Thus Value Plus is the most expensive plan package on offer.

If you are satisfied with maxis, and do not want to tie yourself to a 2 year contract, then consider the following.

Again, if you are able to afford to spend RM258.33/RM290.83 per month for a mobile phone and call/data services, iValue 1 plan with a monthly commitment of RM100 over 12 months with RM1900/RM2290 upfront seems the best plan for you. Also, bear in mind that iPhone is very addictive and eats up a lot of Data Allowance, therefore 500MB might just be barely enough for you.

If you are absolutely satisfied with maxis and would like to commit yourself to a 2 year plan, you are going to get the best value for money with the following iValue plans.

By paying RM1510/RM1890 upfront and committing yourself to RM100/month for 24 months, you will be the proud owner of the new iPhone 3G. It totals up to RM162.92/RM178.75 per month, thus is the best value for money package in terms of monthly outlay.

The i-Value 4 plan, which has a monthly commitment of RM375 over 24 months, is the only plan that you have to pay nothing RM0.00 upfront for the phone (8GB version)! Heavy users may consider this a bargain, however the total outlay for the phone will eventually reach a total of RM9260.

Study the breakdown of the plans carefully before booking yours online. All iPhones booked before 17th March have to be collected from selected outlets the latest by 26th March. I have no idea of why they have set a pick-up date limit, maybe we will find out on the 27th March.

And no, maxis did not give me an iPhone to blog about this.