Original URL: http://www.theregister.co.uk/2008/07/07/cw_payg_iphone_launch/
No PAYG 3G iPhone in UK until Christmas
Carphone Warehouse names the date
Posted in Phones, 7th July 2008 13:14 GMT
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The Carphone Warehouse has announced that pay-as-you-go 3G iPhones will be available "in time for Christmas" - a rather longer wait than hopeful buyers were anticipating.
Carphone Warehouse has trumped O2’s PAYG 3G iPhone launch
CW released a bland statement today letting punters know that it’s started taking orders for the phone – if you’re willing to sign onto an O2 contract. However, a paragraph within the statement said: “The iPhone 3G will also be available on pay as you go at The Carphone Warehouse in time for the Christmas period.”
The retailer’s yet to confirm how much a PAYG 3G iPhone will set you back, but it has promised to publicise the details “closer to the time”.
Meanwhile, O2 has posted a message onto the PAYG iPhone section of its website [1] stating that the “iPhone 3G for Pay & Go will be available later this year”.
CW's statement ties in with a story published by Register Hardware early in June reporting after reader was told by an O2 staffer not to expect the handset until Christmas [2].
O2’s yet to officially state how much the PAYG 3G iPhone will cost. But unconfirmed reports have already claimed that O2 will price it at about £300 for the 8GB model and £360 for the 16GB model. Others have said the price will be higher still.
US carrier AT&T has AT&T has already confirmed [3] that a contract-free 8GB 3G iPhone will cost $599 (£301/€382) - exactly what the first version was priced at when it went on sale a year or so ago.