Vodafone kicks off iPhone sales, expects 50K sold today
As promised, Vodafone has busted down any last remaining shreds of O2's iPhone exclusivity today with the official launch of Apple's wares on its airwaves. Both the 3G and 3GS are available, and yes -- it's possible to get even a 32GB 3GS for free as long as you're willing to step up to a big-boy plan of £75 (about $123) per month or greater. For its efforts in securing a deal, the carrier believes that it will have moved about 50,000 iPhones by the time it counts all the receipts from the first day's sales, beating Orange's numbers from late last year by a solid 20,000. It's not Orange they're necessarily going after, though: Voda's quick to take a pot shot at original seller O2's network issues by proudly boasting "Outstanding phone, Outstanding network" on the iPhone's landing page. Honestly, we wouldn't get too cocky, guys -- the iPhone has a tendency to do unfortunate things to those that offer it.
