Orange ‘to sell iPhone in Britain’

Orange, the British mobile phone division of France Telecom, announced Monday it will begin selling the iPhone later this year, ending an exclusive agreement with rival operator O2 Apple.

O2, owned by Telefonica of Spain, had won a two-year period of exclusivity to sell the Apple iPhone back in 2007.

"Orange UK and Apple have reached an agreement to bring the iPhone 3G and 3GS to Orange customers in the UK later this year," Orange said in a statement, adding that currently sells iPhones in 27 countries and territories.

Orange gave no details of the release dates, telephone charges or tariffs set for Britain.

A spokesman for O2, meanwhile, said his company would continue to sell iPhones in Britain.

"We are proud that we have been able to offer an exclusive iPhone deal in our 20 million customers in the last two years," he said in a statement.

"We always knew the iPhone was exclusive for a limited period of time, but our relationship with Apple continues and will be a continued success.

"We have more than one million iPhone customers that are still very important for us," the spokesman added.

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