O2 has been long taunted as one of the main possible operators for carrying Apple's phone in the UK. Latest hints say that the carrier has agreed to pass over to the iPhone's producer a total of 40 percent of the revenues they cash in from selling the device.

We are only hours away from the official Apple press conference at the Regent Street Apple Store in London, today. Rumors will finally leave room for official statements on the operators to support the iPhone in Europe, although some last minute information on O2's contract with Apple is just as surprising.

The iPhone's producer has really nailed it big time with O2, if it proves to be true that they will give Apple 40 percent of all revenues cashed in from selling their mobile phone. That's shocking news that has never been seen before in the support that operators offer handset producers when bringing mobile phones out for their subscribers. Because of this, the company might very well make a precedent that other handset producers will follow as soon as they have a device just as valuable as the iPhone has proved to be.

Apple drove a hard and deceiving bargain for bringing their phone on the European market. It looks like during negotiations for carrying the iPhone in this continent, the company has played off the UK's four main networks: O2, Orange, T-Mobile and Vodafone too into believing, at some point, that they had an exclusive deal for the British market.

O2 seems to have won the race, but with great compromises. The operator will give Apple almost half of their revenues for the iPhone, which leaves them only a small profit from the handset's sales, even with the three year contract that it will most probably sell. Moreover, O2 will have to spend even more money on installing EDGE technology for the iPhone to run on. Overall, the operator might be disappointed by the profits that this deal will have to bring. Their main advantage might turn out to be that of a better reputation, as being among the first carriers to support the iPhone in its European launch.