Third placed Japanese mobile operator Softbank has slashed its tariffs on the iPhone 3G less than a month after the launch of the device.

Despite the fact that Softbank claims the device has been “very well received since its launch on July 11,” the operator said it intends to make the device “available to an even larger public”.

As a result, Softbank is adding a new ceiling to its Packet Flat-rate Full fixed tariff for the iPhone 3G, bringing the monthly price down from Y7,280 (Eur43) to Y2,990. For this price, iPhone 3G users get unlimited domestic voice calls between 1:00 and 21:00 to other Softbank users, free sending and receiving of email on all networks, and unlimited data.

Softbank also said that from August 6, it would start allowing customers to reserve iPhones in store, due to high demand and limited supply of the device.

Earlier this week Apple released a whooping 250MB software update for the iPhone, taking the firmware up to version 2.0.1, only one month after version 2.0 was released.

The introduction of the second generation software platform has been dogged by teething issues and this latest release is intended to fix the majority of them.