Kiwis who lust after a new iPhone may soon have a choice of service provider other than Vodafone.

According to a report by New Zealand's National Business Review, Telecom New Zealand's retail chief Alan Gourdie said that the company is in "discussions - deep discussions - with Apple."

Gourdie's brief disclosure came Wednesday morning, as Telecom revealed its lineup of 3G phones to be offered along with the company's soon-to-go-live XT Mobile Network.

Vodafone's iPhone 3G offerings are now available in a broad array of New Zealand locations, so New Zealanders aren't deprived of such iPhone wonderments as the digitally flatulent iFart, Chicago-corruption simulator Pay2Play, and boob'n'booty-bouncing Wobble, as long as they're in solid with Vodafone.

However, the rumored advent of a next-gen iPhone may be working in Telecom's favor. In the States, for example, AT&T's exclusive deal for the iPhone 3G is rumored to be slipping away in Verizon's favor for future 'Phones.

Perhaps similar "deep discussions" are underway between Cupertino and Christchurch. ®

Related stories

• 'iPhone lite' and the business of world domination (29 April 2009)

  https://www.theregister.com/2009/04/29/iphone_rumor_reality_check/

• Microsoft in the Pink with Verizon on iPhone? (28 April 2009)

  https://www.theregister.com/2009/04/28/microsoft_verizon_mobile_phone/

• Verizon eyes future iPhones (17 April 2009)

  https://www.theregister.com/2009/04/17/verizon_4g_iphone/

• AT&T seeks additional year of iPhone lock-in (15 April 2009)

  https://www.theregister.com/2009/04/15/att_longer_iphone_deal/

• US mobile carriers want more devices, fewer OSes (9 April 2009)

  https://www.theregister.com/2009/04/09/us_mobile_company_requirements/

• Apple follows AT&T with no-contract iPhones (27 March 2009)

  https://www.theregister.com/2009/03/27/iphone_closeout/

• AT&T to sell no-contract iPhones (20 March 2009)

  https://www.theregister.com/2009/03/20/no_contract_iphones/

• Softbank gives Japan free iPhones (27 February 2009)

  https://www.theregister.com/2009/02/27/free_iphones/

• Apple iPhone poised for China touchdown (25 February 2009)

  https://www.theregister.com/2009/02/25/china_unicom_iphone/