Vodafone Joins UK iPhone Spree

By Geoff Duncan September 29, 2009

Apple iPhone 3GS 16GB, 0 with contract from AT&T — Image used with permission by copyright holder

O2 has been Apple’s exclusive UK carrier for the iPhone since 2007, but yesterday Orange announced that it had managed to break that exclusive stranglehold and would begin selling the iPhone in the year future. Today, it’s Vodafone’s turn: today the carrier announced it too would be selling the iPhone 3G and 3GS in the UK and Ireland beginning in early 2010. As with Orange’s announcement, Vodafone hasn’t set a specific date that the iPhone will become available, nor has it announced pricing or tariffs—but customers who are interested can pre-register now to get the latest info as it becomes available. While Orange looks to be getting set to offer the iPhone before the end of 2009, Vodafone will clearly be waiting until 2010.

Two carriers breaking O2’s exclusivity on the iPhone has industry watchers speculating that Apple will also open up iPhone sales to carriers in other currently-exclusive markets like Spain…and, of course, the United States, where many iPhone users are famously frustrated with AT&T’s service.

Analysts have generally agreed that O2 has benefitted tremendously from its early lock on the iPhone, with most estimates having the iPhone account for more than 10 percent of the carriers pre-tax earnings and contributing substantially to its subscriber growth.

Editors' Recommendations

Topics

Former Digital Trends Contributor

Geoff Duncan writes, programs, edits, plays music, and delights in making software misbehave. He's probably the only member…

Mobile

iPhone SE 4: news, rumored price, release date, and more

The Apple iPhone SE (2022) and Apple iPhone SE (2020) together.

While the spotlight always seems to be on Apple’s mainline iPhones, the iPhone SE is a great pick for those who are on a budget. If you want an iPhone that doesn't break the bank, the SE is the way to go.

The original iPhone SE came out in 2016, and then Apple revamped it in 2020 and 2022 by giving it some more modern hardware. The iPhone SE tends to get updated every two or so years rather than annually like the traditional iPhone. This means that we should see a new iPhone SE 4 this year, but it’s not so cut-and-dried with this particular model.

Mobile

3 reasons why I’ll actually use Anker’s new iPhone power bank

A person holding the Anker MagGo Power Bank.

Power banks are a necessary evil, and even if you don’t consider yourself a “power user” who's likely to drain a phone’s battery in less than a day, there will be times when one comes in handy. And when I am forced to carry one, I want it to be as helpful and versatile as possible.

I’ve been trying Anker’s MagGo Power Bank 10K -- meaning it has a 10,000mAh cell inside it -- and there are three reasons why I'm OK with it taking up valuable space in my bag.
It has a screen on it

Mobile

Here’s how Apple could change your iPhone forever

An iPhone 15 Pro Max laying on its back, showing its home screen.

Over the past few months, Apple has released a steady stream of research papers detailing its work with generative AI. So far, Apple has been tight-lipped about what exactly is cooking in its research labs, while rumors circulate that Apple is in talks with Google to license its Gemini AI for iPhones.

But there have been a couple of teasers of what we can expect. In February, an Apple research paper detailed an open-source model called MLLM-Guided Image Editing (MGIE) that is capable of media editing using natural language instructions from users. Now, another research paper on Ferret UI has sent the AI community into a frenzy.