AfterDawn: News

iPhone coming to Europe soon?

Sources close to newswireless have reported that the worldwide mobile phone carrier Vodafone is close to announcing a European deal for the Apple iPhone.

The reports say that Apple is simply waiting for the one million sold milestone at which point they will announce Vodafone, T-Mobile and Carphone Warehouse as distribution channels.



With the iPhone selling over 700,000 phones already, the announcement could be made as soon as this weekend, although there may be some legal issues. The reports also note that a contract was drafted in Germany but did "not meet the approval of Vodafone's English lawyers".

Adding fuel to the rumors is statments made by Vodafone's German chief, Friedrich Joussen, as well as the newspaper the Rheinische Post identifying T-Mobile Germany as a candidate for iPhone distriibution. The paper also suggested a November 1st launch for European iPhones.

Source:
MaccNN

Written by: Andre Yoskowitz @ 4 Jul 2007 10:54

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• 4 comments

• sebast1an

  BBC News website claims O2 has exclusivity to the IPhone...
  
  Not that I'll be getting one, but will be interesting to see the pricing structure / uptake in Europe as generally handsets are quite subsidised by the operators...

  5.7.2007 00:44 #1

• borhan9

  If Vodafone gets the deal. I wont go for it if the same thing happens in Australia i am planning to change my carrier later this year. I am with Vodafone right now but the call rates are not good.

  5.7.2007 02:44 #2

• BcMester

  Originally posted by sebast1an:...will be interesting to see the pricing structure / uptake in Europe as generally handsets are quite subsidised by the operators...You can figure what's it gonna be... If it's $600 in the US it'll be €600 in Europe, and £600 in GB... Just like everything else. We Europeans are usually screwed when it comes to prices. And I don't think Apple will let the operators bring the price down when the phone is selling this well. Not that I'd give a flying f..k about the iPhone. :)

  5.7.2007 14:20 #3

• sebast1an

  If I remember, I saw a presentation that said it costs about £375 to get a new customer (I work for a mobile operator) on a network. The majority of this is down to covering the cost of the handset - the prices they go for on Ebay are not what operators have to pay phone manufacturers.
  
  I'd be horrified to think of anyone who would pay a couple of hundred pounds plus the high monthly contract just to get hands on a phone... It is the 'norm' for Americans I believe to cover full cost of handset, but that model wont work in Europe...

  6.7.2007 00:32 #4