Vodafone selected as Apple's Euro iPhone partner?

As much fanfare as Apple's partnership with AT&T is getting stateside, there continues to be eerily little official discussion about the specifics of the iPhone's upcoming European launch. The reason for the silence is a subject of some debate, but the popular theory seems to be that Apple's spoiled brat-like demands aren't going over well with Europe's major carriers. Though T-Mobile's been named as a possibility to eventually cave (or cause Apple to cave?), Credit Suisse seems to think Vodafone makes the most sense -- and now at least one retailer seems to be lending credibility to that theory. This is all super sketch, mind you -- after all, it's been widely believed that Apple would go straight to 3G for its European launch -- but phones2U now lists the 8GB iPhone (though pricing is "TBA") as being available with a handful of monthly plans. It's not out of the question for a retailer to break news like this, so we'll see what happens.

[Thanks, Cassio]

[MDB @ Jun 28th 2007 12:40PM]

This was on Engadget Mobile days ago

[Nando @ Jun 28th 2007 1:19PM]

LOL! Come on, Apple...cave.

[monon @ Jun 28th 2007 1:23PM]

Are you asking me Engadget?

[Stephen @ Jun 28th 2007 1:25PM]

Please be true!

[Frankenstein Black @ Jun 28th 2007 1:29PM]

Don't get your hopes up. There are no 3G Bob's being shipped to EU by Acme, at least not yet ;^)...

[GavinK @ Jun 28th 2007 1:33PM]

Was on Engadget yesterday.

http://www.engadget.com/2007/06/27/credit-suisse-vodafone-likely-to-carry-3g-iphone-in-europe/

[Johnny Appleseed @ Jun 28th 2007 1:35PM]

Vodafone = Verizon.
www.vodafone.com
and select usa, you go to verizon.

So, is that good news that maybe someday soon Verizon will be getting it? I had AT&Tingular!

[J @ Jun 28th 2007 2:16PM]

Pretty much, Vodaphone owns 45% (maybe 40%?) of Verizon Wireless. If Vodaphone had it's act together, it would force Apple's hand and allow support in the US over Verizon Wireless' network. The good news for AT&T is that Vodaphone is falling apart.

[ELmo @ Jun 28th 2007 3:23PM]

It will not be coming to any other carrier in the US for 5 years. It was part of the contract with AT&T. THats one reason why they bent the rules for Apple so much.

[Rob Feng @ Jun 28th 2007 1:35PM]

Vodafone owns Verizon. The ultimate irony if this is true.

[J @ Jun 28th 2007 2:21PM]

Vodaphone owns a piece (40% or 45%) of Verizon Wireless.

Sooner or later, people will realize there is a (very large) difference between Verizon and Verizon Wireless.

It works like this:

Verizon Communication owns Verizon Telecom (Phones, DSL, FiOS, FiOS TV)
Verizon Communication owns Verizon Business (Former MCI)
Verizon Communication owns some percentage of Verizon Wireless (55 or 60 percent)

Vodaphone owns the rest of Verizon Wireless.

There are a couple other divisions of Verizon, but they're mostly small pieces and don't add much to the overall business. I think the Verizon Foundation (non-profit division) is an example of that.

[Daniel D @ Jun 28th 2007 1:44PM]

I spoke to a customer representative from a different network (O2) and he said nothing was confirmed yet.

[monon @ Jun 28th 2007 1:48PM]

Are you asking me Engadget?

[Stephen @ Jun 28th 2007 1:57PM]

This is probably just the retailer trying to get some PR - not the worst idea in the world by them!

[matt @ Jun 28th 2007 2:01PM]

they claim to be selling it as a sim free model aswel which indicates that it will be on other networks aswel...

http://phones2udirect.co.uk/Products/type/phones/ProductID/7817/NetworkID/280

[iPhone UK @ Jun 28th 2007 2:05PM]

I just called Vodafone - the business manager who looks after my company phones checked with his management and claims that it is coming to Vodafone, they just cannot announce dates or pricing yet. Although like all these things, only a handful of people at the top will really know the truth until it's announced or about to be announced.

Just hurry up guys!

[Charlie @ Jun 28th 2007 2:30PM]

Thank God for Apples spoiled brat-like demands!

[Alex @ Jun 28th 2007 2:35PM]

If it's of any interest, the iPhone (both 4GB and 8GB) has been on amazon.co.uk for quite a while now. This may suggest an unlocked version?

[Thomas @ Jun 28th 2007 3:13PM]

But Vodafone is not available in neither Norway, Sweden, Denmark or Finland, which is over 20 million people.. And those countries are pretty rich, so i really hope Apple will offer the iPhone without subscriptions here..

[Vahur @ Jul 1st 2007 5:26AM]

Have you checked that there isn't a Vodafone partner in those countries since here in Estonia there isn't Vodafone, but there is a partner of it.

[Kei @ Jun 28th 2007 3:33PM]

seen it on widgx comparison for since two weeks ago listed as 'sim free' and price TBA.

[louder @ Jun 28th 2007 3:54PM]

please NO. That Vodacrap sucks here.

[ChrisGilmore @ Jun 28th 2007 4:20PM]

Wait a minute? Here's the phones2u article.



Finally the Apple iPhone is here! Following the massive success of the iPod, Apple have long been oured to release an iPhone and at the

2007 Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas it was officially announced

and what a phone it is!


I'm sure it was MacWorld...

[J. Vicuña @ Jun 28th 2007 4:50PM]

Does this mean that the iPhone will never be available in Latin America?
The closest we have is Movistar/O2 and Claro (Owned by Telmex), and none of them seems to be interested in it.

[jeromefoster @ Jun 28th 2007 5:43PM]

Good news..once it reaches europe on monthly plans it'lll be in the Caribbean soon..and unlocked i hope!

[jeromefoster @ Jun 28th 2007 5:46PM]

So will vodaphone be locking the SIm too then?!

[dypeterc @ Jun 28th 2007 6:45PM]

i'd rather see o2 carry the phone overseas. the biggest market is going to be the asian one. only if they accept it and buy it, the iphone will truly be a success.

[Paul @ Jun 28th 2007 7:32PM]

Interesting thing in the article is it mentions in the specs - MMS, Video MMS - bad luck USA

[l0ne @ Jun 29th 2007 2:37AM]

Vodafone makes the most sense because it has the largest presence in EU (no T-Mobile here where I live, for example, but plenty of Vodafone). It also has one of the best data networks here (it's the only HSDPA provider that I know of).

Ah, and EU is as important a market for cell phones as Asia :) And many expectations are different here (we all use prepaid cards rather than contracts, and we don't pay for receiving SMSs, for example).

[Scotty @ Jun 29th 2007 3:07PM]

Hey folks, I can't believe Phones2u have made it onto engadget. They are total cowboys. One of their T&C's when you take out a new contract is that porting your old number accross onto your new phone constitutes a disconnection so they charge you the full cost of your phone and the line rental for a year. I took them to court - and won. Avoid at all costs.