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Oct. 1, 2009

Just like Orange, Vodafone today announces that will also offer the iPhone in the United Kingdom as well.

The British wireless operator has entered into an agreement with Apple to bring the iPhone 3G and 3GS handsets to mobile users in the U.K. and Ireland in mid-November.

Vodaphone now offers the iPhone in thirteen countries and territories. Information on the Vodafone website is very limited and sporadic, however.

No information was available regarding pricing, tariffs and availability on Vodafone, other than to say it will soon be available in the U.K.

Steven Hartley, senior analyst at Ovum, today issued a comment on the move by Apple and Vodafone, concluding that more iPhone carriers is a good thing for European consumers.

"A three-way war will result in lower tariffs. Vodafone and Orange will aggressively target O2's iPhone customers," he said.

"Those signing up for the 3G or 3GS iPhone at launch will be coming to the end of their 18-month tariff in January of next year, including those customers that upgraded from the 2G version," Hartley stated.

The iPhone on the Vodafone network will mean new competition in the U.K., as three mobile carriers – O2, Orange and Vodafone – will now be offering the iconic device. In the past, customers shopping for the iPhone have been limited to only one carrier, as Apple initially set up exclusive two-year carrier partnerships.

In the U.K., O2 was the lucky wireless carrier.

Hartley offered a small sample of how developments in the U.K. translate to the United States, where AT&T's exclusive contract with Apple is said to be running out.

"In the U.S., only T-Mobile's 3G network and the lack of a CDMA version that could leverage Verizon's massive customer base can now be holding back Apple. Now the company wants the iPhone everywhere and operators are only too willing to oblige," Hartley wrote.

As many had expected, the iPhone and iPod got the top two spots again, taking about 45 percent of total ad requests in the U.S. alone.

Third on the list is the Samsung R-450 smartphone, which accounts for almost 4.5 percent of ad requests. To put things in perspective, the Samsung R-450 is a messaging phone with a slide-out keyboard. It’s not even really a smartphone per se, by some definitions.

The HTC Dream (or the G1 as it is sometimes called) comes in at No. 5 on the list but accounts only for 2.2 percent of total requests, and is the next smartphone in AdMob’s lineup.

As some had predicted, Google's Android-based HTC Dream has a touch screen and its user interface has received better than average reviews.

It will be interesting to observe if other British or European wireless operators will join the iPhone bandwagon in the next few days.

One thing is for sure, the iPhone always gets a lot of publicity and people seem to have a love affair with the handset.

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Source: Vodafone.