Vodafone enters UK iPhone market

Vodafone has reached an agreement to sell Apple's popular iPhone in the UK. The announcement follows news that network operator Orange had secured a similar agreement with Apple. The deals mark an end to the exclusive UK arrangement between O2 and the US technology firm, which has been in place since 2007. Vodafone says users can register an interest online, with the handsets becoming available to customers from early 2010. Orange said its customers would be able to buy the phone "later this year" but did not specify a date or pricing. Vodafone is one of the biggest mobile operators in the world with an estimated 300 million customers world wide, making it the second largest carrier after China Mobile. The agreement sees both Orange and Vodafone selling both the iPhone 3G and iPhone 3GS. A spokesperson for Vodafone said the firm was "delighted" at securing an agreement with Apple and that the phone was going to be primarily for existing Vodafone customers. This is a different model from that adopted by O2, which used the iPhone as an incentive to attract new customers.

Source: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/8278073.stm