Carphone Warehouse and Phones 4U are battling to sell Apple’s iPhone on the Vodafone and Orange networks after O2’s exclusive rights to the popular handset ended this week.
The Apple iPhone is expected to be available on the Orange network from November and on Vodafone in early 2010.
Carphone Warehouse, which has credited its current exclusive access to the iPhone on the O2 network for improving its market presence at the expense of Phones 4U, is close to agreeing terms to also sell the device on Vodafone’s network, according to the Daily Telegraph.
Phones4U has signed a deal to sell the iPhone on the Orange network, but could also allow Carphone Warehouse to market the phone, the Telegraph reported.
Neither Orange nor Vodafone have released details of the tariffs they intend to offer on the handset, but it is thought that increased competition could lower the cost of the iPhone by more than £100.
Orange and O2 will be battling head to head over the Christmas period when thousands of iPhone contracts will come up for renewal.
Vodafone’s introduction to the market next year is only expected to make the price war even fiercer 2010.
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