The iPhone has triggered open warfare between Australia’s mobile phone carriers over internet pricing.

 While Apple’s iPhone 3G is primarily a mobile phone, it is designed with mobile email and web browing capabilities that chew through data ‘faster’ than many home broadband connections.

In the US, it comes with unlimited data allowances, but Australian mobile carriers have come under fire for their meagre monthly data allowance, which are leaving customers with some nasty bill shocks.

Only a month after the iPhone 3G release in Australia, Virgin has dropped a data bombshell by providing up to 5Gb per month of data to its iPhone customers.

While its nowhere near what their American counterparts receive (unlimited) Virgin is offering 1Gb of data for $70 with an extra 4Gb for $30 totalling $100 for 5Gb of data for its iPhone customers, the country’s best value iPhone data plan.