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Confirmed: Vodafone + iPhone in Australia |
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Yes - we've heard it too. The blogosphere has gone wild.
Read about it here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here and here. Note that this is not an exclusive carrier, and that Vodafone has announced it in 9 other countries.
Vodafone today announced it has signed an agreement with Apple to sell the iPhone in ten of its markets around the globe. Later this year, Vodafone customers in Australia, the Czech Republic, Egypt, Greece, Italy, India, Portugal, New Zealand, South Africa and Turkey will be able to purchase the iPhone for use on the Vodafone network.
Vodafone has opened up an "express your interest" form. Check it out here.
Update (4:00pm 7/05/08):
"I'd be very surprised if it wasn't a 3G phone to go on sale here," said Mark Novosel, telecommunications analyst with technology research firm IDC.
Mr Novosel expects Vodafone to lock the iPhone to its network and sell it at a discounted rate.
"I'm sure they will have a special iPhone plan ... for instance they could throw in 1GB of data on a $49 cap," he said.
Mr Novosel expects other carriers to also offer the iPhone.
"Vodafone hasn't said it's an exclusive deal so I would expect other telcos to sell the iPhone," he said. "Apple wouldn't be able to sell many units if they made it exclusive because the local market is so small."
He didn't rule out Apple Australia selling iPhones directly and said a 16GB version could cost around $700.
Telstra and Apple could not be contacted while Hutchison and Optus declined to comment.[Source]
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