14 DAY TRIAL // It looks like the cats are coming out of the bag. After officially announcing that O2 will be the carrier for the iPhone in the UK, Apple has just announced its partnership with T-Mobile for Germany.
Nobody was expecting another announcement from Apple so soon after the media event in London, but it came nonetheless. Without any fanfare or warning, Apple has officially announced its deal for Germany, making T-Mobile the exclusive carrier when it makes its debut there, on the 9th of November. "We're thrilled to be partnering with T-Mobile to bring the iPhone to Germany," said Steve Jobs, Apple's CEO. "Customer response to iPhone in the US has been incredible, and we can't wait to introduce T-Mobile customers to the most revolutionary mobile device on the planet."
Much like in the UK, the iPhone in Germany will be working on EDGE and by the end of 2007, T-Mobile will be the only network operator in Germany to offer EDGE throughout its entire GSM network. In addition, with 20,000 HotSpots worldwide, T-Mobile is the biggest Wi-Fi provider in the world. Of those HotSpots, 8,600 are in Germany, where HotSpot users can achieve download speeds of up to 11 megabytes per second. "We are convinced that we can get our customers excited about experiencing the mobile internet with the iPhone," said Hamid Akhavan, CEO, T-Mobile International. "I am proud that Apple and T-Mobile have become partners. The best mobile device currently on the market will soon be operating on the best network in the country."
While so far no further information is available on the service plans that will be offered for the device, the iPhone will go on sale starting the 9th of November and will be sold through Telekom Shops of Deutsche Telekom and the T-Mobile web shop. The device will be available in an 8GB model for ?399 including V.A.T. and require a new 2-year T-Mobile contract.