O2 wins UK Palm Pré exclusive?

Not content with snapping up the iPhone, O2 may have also secured exclusive rights to sell Palm’s upcoming Pré smartphone in the UK.

Palm's Pré: could arrive on O2 in the UK

Quoting sources familiar with distribution contracts between Telefónica – O2’s parent company – and Palm, Spanish website Expansión has reported that O2 will market the much-hyped handset exclusively in the UK.

Although a Pré launch date wasn’t mentioned, the report added that Telefónica will also launch the phone in Spain before the summer through local operator Movistar. So it’s possible that the Pré could become available in the UK around the same time.

If Expansión’s moles are correct, then the news could put an end to rumours that Vodafone’s in the running to sell the Pré exclusively in the UK. Speculation emerged after a Pré handset fitted with on one of the operator’s SIM cards was seen at Mobile World Congress in Spain last month. ®