mobileu.co.uk

Vodafone to start selling iPhones on 14 January

Vodafone is set to start selling the iPhone in its UK stores on 14 January 2010.

Vodafone is the latest in a line of UK networks now offering the Apple smartphone after the exclusivity deal with O2 ended earlier this year.

Vodafone will sell the classic smartphone on a cheap deal of £30 per month, with a 24-month contract. Anyone signing up to this also has to pay an additional handset charge of between £59 (for the 3G 8GB version) and £239 (for the 3GS 32 GB version).

Vodafone and O2 both offer an unlimited WiFi offer on their iPhone deals but Vodafone’s deals are subject to a 1GB-per-month internet usage limit, which is higher than Orange’s 750MB ‘fair usage’ limit.

Vodafone’s deal is not necessarily as good value as those offered by rivals O2 and Orange. Both these networks offer lowest monthly tariffs of £34.26 and £29.36 respectively. However, they both also offer free handsets on their 24-month deals.

Tesco is also competing for customers offering a £35-per-month, two-year tariff that also includes a free handset.

Vodafone’s chief executive Guy Lawrence said the firm has been preparing its network for the past year to make sure it can handle the iPhone’s introduction.