According to that ever nefarious, ‘word round the campfire’, the iPhone 3G could be making its way to an Orange store near you before very long. The report comes from Electricpig which has heard from an undisclosed apparently very credible source that with O2’s exclusive iPhone contract coming to an end just before Christmas, Orange will be allowed to sell the iPhone on its network from October onward.
Now normally we would dismiss all rumours out of hand this late on a Friday afternoon, purely as a point of principle. But the fact that Orange already carries the iPhone in France, Austria, Belgium, the Dominican Republic, Egypt, Jordan, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Switzerland and Africa does tend to lend weight to the possibility.
There is also the notion that Jailbreaking iPhones has been most common in the UK, with Apple subsequently looking for ways to offer more choice in order to curb the public desire to take iPhones on jaunts to other networks the dirty way. Throw in O2’s less than stellar performance with the launch of the iPhone 3G and you are looking at a very tidy little package of rumours and speculation that could well add up to more than the sum of their parts.
So the only question remaining is, if the iPhone was available on both networks in the UK, which one would you choose?
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About Fraser MacInnes
I want an iPhone on Orange contract please please please!!!!!!!!
O2 is so bad
Er… a no brainer!! Orange all the way. O2 just don’t seem to get it. Orange have the savvy – their customer service is superb – I say that after changing from an O2 N95 to an Orange BB Bold 9000. The bold is probably the best Smartphone on Oranges roster. But having been to France recently and drolled in an Orange store at an iPhone on their network. I can only hope that Steve Jobs allows some competition for an Apple to also become an Orange!
Miguel.