Vodafone to sell iPhone in ten countries

 

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By Matthew Sparkes

Posted on 6 May 2008 at 08:24

Vodafone has announced that it will begin selling the iPhone in ten countries later this year, extending the reach of the hugely popular Apple handset into new markets.

The company will offer the iPhone to customers in Australia, the Czech Republic, Egypt, Greece, Italy, India, Portugal, New Zealand, South Africa and Turkey for use on exclusive contracts.

The announcement undermines reports last month that the iPhone will be released to all networks in Italy under a non-exclusive deal, as reported by La Republica.

Curently O2 has the exclusive rights to provide contracts for the iPhone in the UK, while Germany and Austria are covered by T-Mobile and France by Orange. Vodafone has never previously won a bid to sell the iPhone.

It is expected that Apple will release a new 3G-enabled version of the iPhone later this year.

Both O2 and the Carphone Warehouse slashed the price of the 8GB iPhone late last month, and stocks of the handset have now been depleted, leading some to speculate that the new handset could emerge for sale as early as June.