Vodafone To Sell Apple's iPhone In UK, Ireland From Next Year
September 29 2009 - 4:50AM
Dow Jones News
Vodafone Group PLC (VOD) said Tuesday it will sell Apple Inc.'s
(AAPL) iPhone in the U.K. and Ireland from early next year, a day
after France Telecom SA's (FTE) Orange secured a similar deal.
The key difference is that Vodafone will only start to sell the
iPhone from early 2010, whereas the phone will be available on
Orange's network before Chirstmas.
Pricing, tariffs and availability information will be announced
locally in the future, Vodafone said in a brief statement. However,
Vodafone customers in the U.K. and Ireland can register their
interest in the iPhone 3G and iPhone 3GS on its website now.
Vodafone already offers the iPhone through 13 of its operating
companies.
On Monday, Orange said it had reached an agreement to sell the
iPhone in the U.K. later this year, bringing to an end a two year
exclusive contract held by rival Telefonica SA's (TEF) O2 mobile
network.
O2's exclusive deal with Apple has helped the company to boost
sales, customers and average revenue per user, and catapulted the
operator ahead of rival Vodafone into first place as the largest
mobile network in the U.K. by subscriber numbers.
-By Lilly Vitorovich, Dow Jones Newswires; 44-0-207 842 9290;
lilly.vitorovich@dowjones.com
(Kathy Sandler in London contributed to this article)