T-Mobile favored for iPhone in Germany?

T-Mobile is the prime candidate for carrying the iPhone in Germany, according to a claim made in a teaser article written for the country's Rheinische Post on Tuesday. The paper alleges that the carrier will sell the base iPhone for 450 Euros ($613) on November 1st, meeting Apple's stated goal of bringing the device to Europe by the fourth quarter of 2007. The media outlet does not elaborate on whether this includes taxes or subsidies. T-Mobile Germany has declined comment on the report.

If substantiated, the claim would reveal a more regionalized strategy for bringing the iPhone to Europe. At one point Britain's The Guardian pointed to Vodafone as the preferred European carrier, which would have given Apple broader coverage of Europe and the potential for a unified deal. A representative of Vodafone later denied the claim. T-Mobile's European branch currently addresses the UK, Germany, and multiple central European companies such as Poland.

Rheinische Post noted that the possibility of an exclusive contract could be a barrier in Germany, where many customers are used to unlocked phones that can more easily be switched between carriers.

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dawho9

Hmmm...

07/03, 2:15pm, EDT

Does this mean that T-Mobile is going to make the same changes on their network to make things like Visual Voicemail work?

Curious?

dw9

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Visnaut

Fact-checking...

07/03, 3:18pm, EDT

"T-Mobile's European branch currently addresses the UK, Germany, and multiple central European companies such as Poland."

Contrary to popular belief, Poland is a country, not a company. Look it up sometime!

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TheSnarkmeister

iProblem with this...

07/03, 4:03pm, EDT

This is great for Apple, but terrible news for cell phone consumers (whether they use iPhone or not). Why? Because by rushing headlong into a two-year contract on an unsubsidized phone, iPhone users have indicated to the cellular industry that there is a precedent for eliminating handset subsidies altogether (but for still requiring expensive, long-term lock-in contracts). TechSwot.com made this point last week, and it was covered on several other blogs (TelMeTech, MostlyExchange), but the advertising-dependent media largely ignored it as a consumer issue. And, now AT&T and the rest of the cellular boys have the ammunition they need to continue requiring contracts while ceasing to provide handset subsidies. It is about to get a lot more expensive for everybody, not just iPhone users.

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Clive

European branch?

07/04, 10:23am, EDT

"T-Mobile's European branch"?

Erm, T-Mobile is a European company - owned by Deutsche Telekom, that's where the "T" comes from.

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