14 DAY TRIAL // TeliaSonera, a leading mobile operator based in Stockholm, Sweden, unveiled today the upcoming release of Apple's iPhone in no less than seven new markets: Sweden, Finland, Norway, Denmark, Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania.
Although the Nordic carrier doesn't give exact details about when its customers from these countries will be able to buy the iPhone, it does say that "later this year" Apple's touchscreen handset will reach all of the mentioned markets.
TeliaSonera offers both GSM and 3G/UMTS in all the seven countries listed above and, since the iPhone will probably go there starting June or July, we could be talking about the 3G iPhone. It's almost confirmed that Apple's 3G handset will be officially unveiled to the world on the 9th of June and it would be kind of weird if TeliaSonera offered the old (2.5G) model instead of the new one.
Sure, the 3G iPhone release in the Nordic and Baltic countries is only a supposition for now and until TeliaSonera comes with something official about this users must not get their hopes up. What's clear though is that at least the first-generation iPhone will be available, as TeliaSonera stated in a very short note appeared on its official website.
With the seven recently announced markets on the road-map, Apple's iPhone will be available for more than 14 million new customers. It's not that much when compared to the 150 million users that will be able to get the iPhone via Vodafone, but that's only because the Nordic countries where TeliaSonera operates don't have a high population. The carrier offers services to almost 5 million users in Sweden, 2.5 million in Finland, about 1.6 million in Norway, 1.5 million in Denmark, 2 million in Lithuania, 1 million in Latvia and only about 0.8 million in Estonia.
The pricing details about TeliaSonera's future iPhone were not unveiled, but the handset will surely be on the expensive side.