JAPANESE will be able to use the iPhone at a lower fee depending on the amount of Internet use, with payments starting as low as 2,990 yen (US$27.70) a month, less than half the cost at its introduction in the country last month.

Softbank Corp, the carrier that offers the iPhone in Japan, said yesterday the new charges would kick in for all iPhone owners this month.

People would pay a staggered fee on a scale depending on the amount of data transmission they use but would not exceed the initial pricing of 7,280 yen a month being charged for unlimited use, the Tokyo-based carrier said.

The change is aimed at wooing more iPhone users, not just the niche-heavy Internet users that Softbank thought would be attracted to the product from Apple Inc.

The revamped iPhone 3G drew an enthusiastic response in Japan with hundreds of people lining up at stores from daybreak to get one when it was introduced July 11.

The handset sold out in Japan. But Softbank yesterday said it would start accepting new orders starting today.

CEO Masayoshi Son said he decided on offering the lower fee after the firm checked to make sure its networks could handle the expected surge in iPhone wireless use.