iPhone in Oz in late June
April 9th 2008
According to a MacTalk forum post, Apple is preparing to launch the iPhone in Australia.
Their write up claims resellers have been informed of the following:
• Last week of June release
• More than one carrier
• No contract lock in
• Current resellers will be able to sell iPhones
MacTalk says the iPhone release will coincide with the opening of a brick-n-morter Apple Store location in Sydney.
Moreover, they believe reference to "more than one carrier" indicates the product released will be 3G. Previously, Apple has said that it's 'not married to' the exclusive network partner business model.
According to MacTalk, Oz wireless providers all support 3G HSDPA, so it's possible and perhaps even likely an EDGE-compatible iPhone won't be sold there--only one provider supports EDGE (Telstra) down under.
Regarding the "no contract lock in" bit, there are many countries where telcos aren't permitted to gouge customers via lock-ins, termination fees, artificially high usage fees, etc (ie the US). If that's the case in Oz, then Apple will simply be following local custom.
Editor's note: So, IGM readers from OZ, is the above seem reasonable given realities on the ground there? Or, is MacTalk speaking wishfully?
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