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Is the iPhone Ready For Australia?

Optus might soon bring the Apple phone for Australian consumers

By Florin Troaca, Communications News Editor

23rd of January 2008, 15:08 GMT

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Apple's iPhone is definitely one of world's most important mobile devices released in the last few years, and despite this, the handset didn't get the chance to reach all the big mobile markets until now.

One of these markets is Australia, where users can't enjoy the iPhone for the moment unless they buy it on the black market and unlock it. Australia only has a population of a bit over 20 million (not much compared to the US or the UK for example), but almost everyone owns at least one mobile phone and this fact definitely makes it an important country for Apple.

Recently, various rumors appeared, saying that Apple might be in talks with SingTel (Singapore Telecommunications Ltd.) to bring the iPhone on the Australian market. SingTel is one of the largest mobile network operators in Asia Pacific, and its Australian subsidiary, SingTel Optus Pty Limited, or simply Optus, is the second largest operator in the country with more than 6 million subscribers.

Even if there are no official declarations about the matter, Optus has high chances of bringing the iPhone to Australia, especially since Telstra, the leading mobile carrier in the country, doesn't seem to have serious plans regarding the handset. Back in May 2007, Greg Winn, Chief Operations Officer at Telstra, made a caustic declaration about the iPhone: "There's an old saying - stick to your knitting - and Apple is not a mobile phone manufacturer, that's not their knitting", making it pretty clear that the company was not interested to carry Apple's wonder. However, things might have changed since last year and we could even see a double release for the iPhone in Australia, via both Telstra and Optus.

Regardless of the carrier that will bring the iPhone to the southern hemisphere country, one thing is clear: the device must be officially released for this market too, as there are surely many mobile users who are waiting for it.

TAGS:

iPhone | Australia | Optus | Telstra | Apple

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