Apple continued toward its presumed goal of global domination, announcing iPhone carrier partnerships in the U.K., France and Germany while also making moves to enter the Scandinavian market. Last week Apple named O2 its exclusive U.K. carrier partner for the iPhone, which will make its formal debut across the pond on Nov. 9. The iPhone will make its international debut in its 8GB incarnation, which Apple will sell for £269/$536 (including VAT)--O2 will make available three iPhone tariffs starting at £35/$70, all of them including unlimited anytime, anywhere mobile data usage and free unlimited use of its public WiFi network, which spans 7,500 cafés, restaurants, airport lounges, pubs and other locations. Apple will sell the iPhone through its own British retail and online stores as well as O2 and independent mobile retailer Carphone Warehouse's brick-and-mortar and online stores.
A day after announcing the O2 deal, Apple continued its march through Europe, naming T-Mobile its iPhone carrier partner for the German market. The iPhone will make its German debut on Nov. 9 as well--the 8GB model will arrive at a retail price of €399/$557 including VAT, and will require a new two-year T-Mobile tariff. Subscribers will also have access to the T-Mobile WiFi hotspot network, which includes 8,600 sites across Germany. The T-Mobile network will also support iPhone's Visual Voicemail feature. In addition, Orange is poised to announce an exclusive partnership to distribute the device in the French market, according to Didier Lombard, CEO of parent firm France Telecom. Thomson Financial reports that Didier did not offer pricing details, confirming only that Orange will not subsidize the device. Didier added that the iPhone will hit retail prior to the holiday season. French dailies Le Figaro, Les Echos and La Tribune previously reported that the terms of the contract call for Orange to pay Apple more than 10 percent of iPhone-derived service revenues.
Finally, Nordic operators TeliaSonera and Telenor are the latest European carriers to enter negotiations with Apple for exclusive iPhone rights. Spokespeople from both companies confirm they are "very interested in the iPhone," but declined to reveal additional details with discussions still ongoing. "We have seen immense interest in the iPhone from our customers," Telenor spokesman Anders Krokan told Dow Jones Newswires. "We are still in talks, but I doubt we would be able to offer the iPhone this year."
For more on Apple's European wheeling and dealing:
- read this release as well as this release