Apple picks O2 for UK, T-Mobile for Germany?

Yeah, that's apparently what's going down -- the iPhone will be over the Atlantic "in time for Christmas," according to The Times. That is, assuming they can quickly localise its dialogue for easy manoeuvring in the UK market, aye guv'na? Oh, and Apple still has to sign the paperwork, too, so it isn't necessarily over.

P.S. -Naw, doesn't necessarily mean Vodafone is out -- remember, they're so freaking all over the place Apple might just get Vodafone distro somewhere else in the world.

[Thanks to everyone who sent this in]

Update: The piece also notes that Orange is the front-runner in France. As a reminder, German paper Rheinische Post reported that T-Mobile's locked down the iPhone for Deutsche release. Apparently it'll land for €450 (about $612) on November 1st. More as it develops. Congratulations, Europe, now you too can experience absolutely insane consumer hysteria that is an iPhone launch! Thanks, Chinman.

[Constable Odo @ Jul 5th 2007 1:21AM]

I thought somebody here said that O2 wouldn't be chosen because they spent too much money buying the Millenium Dome. See? You never know what's going to take place in the future, so why bother to speculate so much.

[shaun @ Jul 5th 2007 5:12AM]

That was me, I just said that I hope o2 get it but they are probably a bit hard up for cash after the dome! Don't take my word or anything I know absolutely nothing about o2's finances, I really really really want the iPhone to be on o2.....they even have white shops theyre perfect for each other

[Xavier Gill @ Jul 5th 2007 9:25AM]

Did O2 actually buy the dome or are they just sponsering it like the 'British Airways London Eye'?

[Constable Odo @ Jul 5th 2007 10:25PM]

OK. I forgive you.

[ben @ Jul 7th 2007 3:23AM]

O2 own "The O2" (a.k.a the dome) and they had funding from their parent company Telefonica as an investment in new and exiting ideas and also to get in on the 2012 olympics. O2 are never short of money as they are part of one of the larget telecoms companies in europe.

[Frankenstein Black @ Jul 5th 2007 1:23AM]

Curses, Drat and Double Drat, Foiled again by the Puppet Master Jobs! To quote a famous yankee scholar named Yogie "We wont really know until we know, wont we"...

[Frankenstein Black @ Jul 5th 2007 1:25AM]

P.S. Ryan, stop working so hard and get some sleep Bud :^)...

[Darnell @ Jul 5th 2007 1:28AM]

Hm. iPhone will see some real competition abroad with more feature rich phones. I wonder if it'll get 3G?

[Alan Partridge @ Jul 5th 2007 9:31AM]

As a European looking at this iPhone - 2003 called, they want their features back ;)

But seriously the European market, especially the UK, is so competititive. Activation charges are unheard of because the networks are desperate for you to sign. In fact most will give you a rebate of somekind, Orange offer £100 ($200) credited to your line rental, others will offer 6 to 9 months half price or even free (after rebate). Some even give you a free DS lite/PSP/Nano when you sign up.

At the moment 'three' offer a free Nokia E65 300mins, 150 texts, unlimited skype to skype, MSN messenger, browsing, data, slingbox and orb access for £35 ($70) a month.

The iPhone will still sell of course 'cos it looks so nice, but i dont think it will be the inexplicable success the iPods were. Not in its current incarnation anyway.

[Alan Partridge @ Jul 5th 2007 9:34AM]

As a European looking at this iPhone - 2003 called, they want their features back ;)

But seriously the European market, especially the UK, is so competititive. Activation charges are unheard of because the networks are desperate for you to sign. In fact most will give you a rebate of somekind, Orange offer £100 ($200) credited to your line rental, others will offer 6 to 9 months half price or even free (after rebate). Some even give you a free DS lite/PSP/Nano when you sign up.

At the moment 'three' offer a free Nokia E65 300mins, 150 texts, unlimited skype to skype, MSN messenger, browsing, data, slingbox and orb access for £35 ($70) a month.

The iPhone will still sell of course 'cos it looks so nice, but i dont think it will be the inexplicable success the iPods were. Not in its current incarnation anyway.

[Johnny Appleseed @ Jul 5th 2007 1:35AM]

ok...so if the 3g iphone comes out in Europe, then I wonder. Can you buy a European iphone and swap the sim cards. If you can, I'd be pissed!

I mean, WHYTF couldn't they have released a 3g iphone in America. Steve jobs is gonna get his ass whooped. I'm returning my iphone!

[carlo @ Jul 5th 2007 1:51AM]

It would depend on what frequency the high speed was on. Anyway I wouldn't bet on it.

[Atanas Boev @ Jul 5th 2007 4:51AM]

and who said the 'christmass' edition of the EU iphone will be 3G?

[Johnny Appleseed @ Jul 5th 2007 5:35AM]

Europe is not gonna settle for anything less.

In fact, the mere mention of EDGE in Europe is enough to get you shot:)

[Bobbo @ Jul 5th 2007 1:51AM]

ENOUGH ON THE iPHONE. Get on with life!

[Eugene @ Jul 5th 2007 2:07AM]

Would be WONDERFUL if Voda managed to get rights to in Australia....

[fredouil @ Jul 5th 2007 2:34AM]

i would prefer Three, their data plan is many times cheaper.

[Eugene @ Jul 5th 2007 3:19AM]

True, but since I don't live in a capital city their coverage leaves much to be desired...

[Mitch @ Jul 5th 2007 10:25AM]

Same, i dont care who, i just want it in AU!

I will take Vodaphone :(

[ginjaninja @ Jul 6th 2007 5:29AM]

nah, it would better with optus. does any aus provider actually have edge tho? I don't think they do, but don't bite my head off if i'm wrong

[Eugene @ Jul 6th 2007 5:33AM]

yeah, Telstra has edge, but i think everyone's hoping for a 3G iPhone here in OZ.

[takagawa @ Jul 5th 2007 2:08AM]

No iPhone launch news for Australia yet. Still waiting patiently over here for news :)

[Jeroen VB @ Jul 5th 2007 2:31AM]

I don't even know whether it'll be such a hype overhere.
In Belgium nothing really seems like a big hype.
XBox 360s were abundand in stores, don't think the iPhone is going to make much of a difference.
If you know how long it took for the iPod to take off ...
And why on earth would i want to switch to an expensive provider with and expensive phone, when i'm always close to a computer and paying my own cellphone bill ?

[Leonard Nimrod @ Jul 5th 2007 2:53AM]

@ Jeroen VB,

After everything else would pale in comparison. :-D Just kidding, I loved his cheesy movies as a kid.

Seriously though, the iPod isn't a good comparison for the launch. People weren't familiar with an Apple handheld device at the time, Apple was still getting it's tech-legs backs, the iPod was initially released only for the Mac platform and had no iTS yet.

Plus, despite it's popularity now, the Jobs introduced the iPod to a less than energetic crows who obviously see what Jobs saw with their portable music player.

[Mike @ Jul 5th 2007 5:03PM]

Man, those crazy belgians. You just don't know what they're going to do next.

[Danny @ Jul 5th 2007 2:57AM]

How is this going to work in the UK? Over here its illegal for providers to lock phones to their networks, they can initially but your totally entitled to request a SIM unlock code from your provider free of charge.

So for them to lock it to O2 and not give you the unlock code will be breaking the law.

[ssuk @ Jul 5th 2007 7:09AM]

Wouldn't surprise me if other providers got ahold of licences to sell iPhones either. As far as I'm aware though, there's no laws regarding locking phones to a certain network... I could be completly wrong though, so you may want to check for sure there are laws for this.

[srw985 @ Jul 6th 2007 3:30PM]

Actually, I'm not sure if they are obliged to give one, but even once your contracts up, they can still charge a fee!

[Jason Scott @ Jul 5th 2007 3:28AM]

Online petition for 3G/EDGE in the UK:

http://www.ipetitions.com/petition/iPhoneUK/index.html

[eas @ Jul 5th 2007 12:55PM]

Yeah, good luck with that petition.

[James @ Jul 5th 2007 3:30AM]

So let me get this right...
Almost every single network has now been linked with the iPhone launch...
Colour me unimpressed! Give me a heads up when there's an official press release!
All I can guess is there is some serious behind the scenes talks going down in Europe.

[Funkyberry @ Jul 5th 2007 3:36AM]

Nooooooooo not O2! I guess it would make sense after Apple's everso popular choice of Networks for the US....

Totally better be joking...

Meh!

[barrywoods @ Jul 5th 2007 3:43AM]

How about Alaska??!! Hello Apple! We really are a state!

[ipodrulz @ Jul 5th 2007 4:01AM]

:'(... Nothing in Canada.... I feel so hated....

[Rich @ Jul 5th 2007 4:04AM]

Ironically, O2 are the only carrier in the UK not to offer flat rate Internet access.

£300+ is way too expensive though. You can get phones with much better features for free in the UK.

[Fishd @ Jul 5th 2007 4:20AM]

@ Rich: Additionally, O2 are a carrier in the UK that do not currently have an EDGE capable network.

AFAIK, the ONLY network in the UK with EDGE capability at the moment is Orange, which is a shame as their service is poor, prices are high and given their desire to brand the hell out of everything on their network I doubt they'll play nice with his Jobsness. Oh, their *unlimited* mobile internet tarriff has a "fair-use" cap of 30Mb per month too!

[Iain @ Jul 5th 2007 4:22AM]

Why o2 in the UK? Orange has the only EDGE network. Unless, this means we will get a 3G iPhone! o2 does have a lovely HSDPA network.

[Phil @ Jul 5th 2007 4:35AM]

No, O2 do not have a nice data network. One of their top execs said recently that introducing flat rate data tariffs would "break their network" (or words to that effect). At the last count they only have around 5500 3G masts, which is the same amount 3 had when they launched a few years ago (and we all know how well that went!).

If they want this to be a success, my preference would be T-Mobile, followed by Orange, then Voda. Why T-Mob? They don't lock down their phones to the same extent that Orange do (for instance not allowing third party apps to be installed on Windows Mobile devices).

[Jamar @ Jul 5th 2007 8:16AM]

"One of their top execs said recently that introducing flat rate data tariffs would "break their network"."
Like 10-odd million iPhones constantly sending and receiving data won't?

[Thijs van Beek @ Jul 5th 2007 5:23AM]

"Congratulations, Europe, now you too can experience absolutely insane consumer hysteria that is an iPhone launch!"

Well, I don’t think apple is going to pull that off over here. Europeans are much more sober I think. Not only because its a hell of a lot of money for European standards (specially for Germans because there currency is beer i believe), but also that everything comes later on the market than in the USA (computers, movies. etc) or Japan (consoles, games, hentai, etc.) or so.

And the iPhone isn’t as hyped over here as it is over there. The reviews are pretty bad in my point of view. Besides, we have reasonable alternatives, like the Prada iPhoneKILLERRR. Its not an iPhone, but its here and now.

[Mike @ Jul 5th 2007 5:31AM]

In the UK O2 don't lock their contract handsets, although companies must provide an unlock code they are allowed to charge a "reasonable amount" - so interesting to see what happens.

Although no great iphone fan I think O2 would be the best network, if they can privide a decent flat rate internet access, besides by the time Orange and/or Vodafone hack about with the interface adding those little touches it wouldn't resemble Steve's vision anyway.

[Rich @ Jul 5th 2007 5:40AM]

Vodafone, O2, T-Mobile and Orange set the "reasonable amount" to around £20. However, 3 set it £100+. I don't know how they get away with it but I wouldn't be surprised on Apple setting the unlocking fee for the iPhone to an equally unreasonable "reasonable amount".

But still, under UK law, they *must* unlock it on request.

[Stephen @ Jul 5th 2007 5:59AM]

I'm quite bored of this - everyday brings a new european carrier rumour. I just want to know it really is now - please Apple put out a formal release so we know for real.

And to correct someone earleir, O2 are only sponsoring the Dome, it was bought by AEG who own venues like the Staples centre (center).

[Karl @ Jul 5th 2007 6:04AM]

I'm really doubting that Apple will go with one exclusive carrier for the iPhone in Europe. They had to do it in the US, because when they approached the carriers and asked for changes like Visual Voicemail, they had no device to show to back them up. Now, with the enormous amount of hype that the iPhone has generated in the US, no carrier wanting to stay in this market would claim the investments in changing infrastructure aren't worth it.

And in Europe, carriers like Vodafone, O2, and T-Mobile are everywhere. They're pretty much in every EU country. I'm not sure about Orange, but I've only ever really noticed them in the UK and France. It's different from the US in that these are different countries with the same network operators. If you pick one operator, you're leaving behind many millions of potential customers, because the phone market is in this superpower-like position. It would be unwise to choose a single carrier, when Apple certainly has enough leverage now to command all three.

[aaron Hulsizer @ Jul 5th 2007 6:19AM]

O2? OH NO!!!!!!

If it's true that O2 is the exclusive UK network well then I'll will NEVER EVER OWN AN IPHONE. I would rank this as Steve Jobs single biggest F**k up!

I work at the ad agency for O2 and they are the sleaziest, slimiest, most dishonest, least imaginative, worst service in the UK. I'm on vodafone even though I could get an employee discount on O2. I would switch to T-Mobile, Orange, Virgin, Fresh, hell even smoke and signals for an iPhone but I won't be switching to O2. This is the worst news I've heard all year.

[Gary @ Jul 5th 2007 10:36AM]

Fired, Much?

[rezisluh @ Jul 5th 2007 4:28PM]

no gary. prat much?

[zi44y @ Jul 5th 2007 6:25AM]

Jobs, fall off that F.....g high horse. If ya wanna sell a phone, sell it, if not, stop pissing people around!!!! And the big delay is "How much can we rip Europe for" (remember its under $200 or £100 to make)

[Rubs @ Jul 5th 2007 6:37AM]

UK: O2
Germany: T-Mobile
France: Orange

What will happen in Spain? O2 is a partner of Telefonica but we have Orange here to.. and I still hope Vodafone will get the deal.

[Danny @ Jul 5th 2007 6:40AM]

Excellent news. In my opinion, O2 and ORange are the best networks in the UK, so both will suit me down to the ground. I'm just wondering how Apple would bypass the UK unlocking law, as I imagine they want to.