Wednesday, August 22, 2007

iPhone Secures 3 Major Operators in Europe

The exclusive contract was signed by T-Mobile of Germany, Orange of France and O2 in the UK. Whats unique about this deal is that manufacturer of handset has been given for the first time a direct share of the revenues a mobile phone operator makes from calls and data transfers, marking a shift in the relationship between the parties. Until now, mobile operators have campaigned fiercely against such an approach, but industry experts expect that Apple’s success in securing the deals could spur other handset manufacturers to try to secure similar terms.

Mobile operators are said to be hoping for a significant boost in their image from the exclusive deal with Apple, as well as a pool of attractive customers with high rates of spending on calls and data transfers. iPhone had certainly played a significant role in increasing the sign up rates for AT&T in the US and had also uplifted their inferior image too.
iPhone is a class above the rest as its a device that had no subsidy from the operator from day 1. AT&T had bundled it with a 2 years contract in the US and I m sure its almost risk free for the 3 operators as they will be following similar strategy in Europe. iPhone sells by itself! The deal in Asia should be inked soon too as the wait for me seems to be forever.

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