Optus has becomes the first Australian mobile network to offer 24-month warranties to Apple iPhone post-paid customers.

The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) investigated the mobile phone market in 2009 and found contracts often outlasted warranties, leaving some customers paying for a handset that no longer worked.

Following the investigation, Vodafone and Telstra agreed to extend the warranties provided on most handsets to last the entire length of the contract. However, both telcos have refused to include Apple's popular iPhone under the new rule.

Optus has now gone one better than its rivals and offers a 24-month warranty on all handsets sold on a 24-month post-paid contract, including the iPhone.

ACCC chairman, Graeme Samuel, said: "Optus has joined the other major telcos in providing 24-month warranties, and we now have a situation where consumers who purchase a mobile phone on a fixed contract have a warranty for the life of the contract."

Optus customers are guaranteed an express repair or replacement phone over the life of the contract, and if the phone fails within the first 30 days, a replacement handset.

Mr Samuel added: "The law gives consumers a basic, guaranteed level of protection for goods and services they acquire and such rights and guarantees cannot be excluded or limited by suppliers. In fact, any representation by a supplier that seeks to exclude or limit these rights and guarantees available to consumers is illegal."

Consumer law requires that goods must be of acceptable quality, fit for any disclosed purpose and must match any description given or sample shown. Sellers and manufacturers must also honour any express, or extra, warranty they give about the goods they sell.