“Apple has a two-year break clause in its deal with O2, under which the operator is the exclusive UK network for the iPhone, according to people familiar with the situation,” Parker reports. “O2 began selling the iPhone in November 2007 and the operator is in discussions with the US technology company about what arrangements will be put in place from November.”
Parker reports, “No final decisions have been taken, but at least one of O2’s rivals has been in discussions with Apple about the possibility of selling the iPhone this autumn. O2 could continue to sell the iPhone, but on a non-exclusive basis.”
“O2 has sold about 1.5m iPhones and it highly values users of the handsets because they usually spend more than other customers,” Parker reports. “Vittorio Colao, Vodafone’s chief executive, admitted last month that the company’s UK business was being hurt because it did not sell the iPhone.”
Read more in the full article here.
Now they understand the value of the iPhone.
Yes…I just hope more executives see this—not just the telcom, but all executives.
“Vittorio Colao, Vodafone’s chief executive, admitted last month that the company’s UK business was being hurt because it did not sell the iPhone.”
And whose fault is that?
02 has exclusive right for the iPhone 3GS in the UK, so if another phone company sells the iPhone in the UK, it will only be the iPhone 3G that they offer.
Vodafone are bastards… They should never have had the opportunity to sell the iPhone
Vodafone are the worst. Greedy bastards who milk British business for ridiculous amount of money.
How Vodafone has the nerve to say that their not having iPhone is damaging British business I do not know.
British businesses will be best served by Vodafone never having the iPhone.
Did this report miss out ‘its’ before ‘UK’..:
From Reuters:
“Last month, Vodafone’s (VOD.L) chief executive Vittorio Colao said UK business was being damaged by the company’s inability to stock the particular handset.”
I like 02, it’s always offering free stuff to it’s customers
Vodafone, 15% owner of Verizon. No wonder they both suck.
O2 are incompetent
In the UK over the last three weeks the O2 data network (no internet etc.) went down three times for iPhone users. The sooner the exclusivity ends, the better.
LISTEN UP AT&T;!!
“O2 has sold about 1.5m iPhones and it highly values users of the handsets”
AT&T;needs to get a clue… if another option existed in the US right now…. I would move….. the iPhone is THE only thing keeping me with AT&T;right now. iPhone users pay more than most other AT&T;customers…. yet they give us less.
@Macaday, he was talking about Vodafone’s business prospects in the UK, not about UK businesses.
“Vittorio Colao, Vodafone’s chief executive, admitted last month that *the company’s* UK business was being hurt because it did not sell the iPhone.”
yeah……… services the greedy bast@rds right……
O2 are currently ripping off the british public by charging the equivalent of $470 dollars for 32 gig 3GS on an 18 month contract.
Guess who wont be updating their iphone in dec when their contract runs out
” width=”19″ height=”19″ alt=”grin” style=”border:0;” />..in fact i might ven jail break it and leave O2 altogether
Having an iPhone from day one I can only say that I have had no problems at all with the service from o2. Maybe because I live in the North West and the o2 signal is very good then I nothing to complain about. I didn’t even notice the web problems they had.
The price of the upgrades maybe steep but I think our monthly costs are (I’m on £35) excellent. Just read the thread on MacRumors about US monthly charges and the you will see that the o2 costs are very good. Sure, someone will always want 1,000 texts per month or more (why?) and more minutes but that’s life.
Which ever carrier Apple ends up using then someone will always have a moan.