Apple iPhone’s UK future is Orange
Apple’s iPhone is due to be available to Orange customers in the UK later this year, ending rival O2′s exclusive deal over the must-have handset, the mobile operator has said.
The announcement by Orange ends months of speculation. O2′s deal with Apple, which gave it exclusive UK rights to the iPhone, was signed in 2007.
The 3G and 3GS versions will be available to Orange UK customers “later this year”, but no further details of dates, handset costs or tariffs are available yet, the company said.
An Orange spokesman said it “will sell iPhone in all Orange direct channels including Orange shops, the Orange webshop and Orange telesales channels, as well as selected high street partners”.
A pre-registration site for customers to log their interest was launched at www.orange.co.uk/iPhone.
An O2 spokesman said the company always knew its exclusive deal over the iPhone was for “a limited period of time”.
“We’re proud that we’ve been able to offer an exclusive iPhone deal to our 20 million customers for the last two years,” he said.
“We always knew that iPhone exclusivity was for a limited period of time, but our relationship with Apple continues and will be an ongoing success.
“We have over one million iPhone customers and they remain very important to us.”
Apple iPhone’s UK future is Orange
