Vodafone just launched an iPhone portal in the UK, sparking a wave of new speculation that the operator is planning to offer Apple’s mobile phone to its customers in the near future.
Currently only O2 and The Carphone Warehouse share exclusive rights to sell the iPhone in the UK, with O2 being the sole official operator. But rumours that this arrangement is to end have been flying around for some time – and the emergence of this portal will only serve to add fuel to the speculation fire.
Earlier today we heard that Apple is in talks with Verizon, which is co-owned by Vodafone, concerning the introduction of the iPhone to its network in the US (where AT&T is currently the sole carrier). And Vodafone already carries the iPhone in several other countries, so it’s far from inconceivable that Apple could be looking to widen the iPhone’s appeal by offering it to more consumers.
Vodafone is playing things with a straight bat, stating that its free iPhone portal is “available to all iPhone users, including non-Vodafone customers”. We assume it hasn’t created an entire site to cater for O2’s customers and those with a jailbroken iPhone though, so what’s it up to?
The Vodafone iPhone portal lets visitorsbuild a custom page by dragging widgets around, and includes UK-centric content from Sky News, the Premier League and the BBC. Is that UK-specific content another tell-tale sign that O2’s about to lose its iPhone exclusivity in Britain?
Read into it what you will. We’ll bring you more on the iPhone’s exclusivity (or lack of it) in the coming weeks.
Out now | Free | Vodafone
