According to Mobile Today, Orange and T-mobile are in the running for sales of the iPhone 3G in the UK as early as September. Apple originally signed a two year exclusivity deal with O2 which will run out in September this year, it’s important to note that this is just the iPhone 3G and not the 3GS, however O2 has been criticised for relatively high pricing on it’s iPhone plans which could be undercut by other network operators.

O2 was described as ‘furious’ about the news and it may well be, with Ofcom threatening (but not having the teeth to) remove O2’s 3G licence due to it’s poor coverage of the UK, news that both T-mobile and Orange could soon stock the 3G will could really hurt O2’s share price. T-Mobile’s call centres are reported to have already started telling customers it may stock the iPhone. Of course Orange and T-mobile both sell the iPhone in different countries and have the potential to really undercut O2 with ‘budget’ iPhone pricing. From a consumer’s point of view this is great news in the UK (enviable if it turns out to be true for other countries, sorry US) and could mark the beginning of the end for exclusivity of the iPhone in the UK and elsewhere as well as putting sever price pressure on O2. From O2’s point of view this could turn out a disaster for sales with many people still  buying the iPhone 3G due to the lower price and perceived little difference from the 3GS.

Tags: apple, iPhone 3G, iPhone 3GS, iPhone and Apps, O2, Orange, T-mobile, Tmobile, UK