Orange UK: the iPhone's latest colour carrier?

Could Orange become the UK's second iPhone carrier?

By James Sherwood • Get more from this author

Posted in Telecoms, 25th July 2008 18:07 GMT

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It’s already been rumoured that the iPhone 3G’s turning red, but fresh speculation has it that the must-have talker will also turn Orange within months.

According to blogger Ernest Doku, a “very, very [the second very was in bold] credible source on the inside” has told him that the iPhone 3G will arrive on Orange's UK network, possibly as soon as this October.

Doku’s blog isn’t suggesting that O2, currently the UK’s sole network carrier for the iPhone, will be forced to stop selling the handset. Instead, it’s suggested that Orange will be taken on as the UK’s second carrier. Orange isn’t new to the iPhone game either. It already sells the Apple handset in France and a number of other countries.

Although the terms of distribution between Apple and O2 in the UK have never been disclosed, various sources have claimed that the network carrier’s exclusivity deal is valid for three years. This is provided O2 meets certain terms and conditions, most of which are thought to be related to handset sales and connections.

If this is the case, then the suggestion is that O2 hasn’t met these T’s and C’s, which may allow Apple to sign-up a second UK carrier.

Orange’s UK iPhone case may be strengthened by recent news from Singapore. Although the country’s largest phone company, Singapore Telecommunications, announced back in May that it had won exclusive rights to distribute the iPhone in the region, two rival operators have also claimed the same.

According to a report by Bloomberg, Singapore’s smallest operator, Mobile One Ltd, has said it will offer the iPhone 3G before the end of 2008. While back in May, rival carrier StarHub Ltd said it also expects to offer the iPhone by Christmas 2008.

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