Will the European iPhone Have 3G?
09.10.07 - 01:09pm
The Apple Expo is up and coming in Paris in just 15 short days. Rumors of who has the European contracts have been abounding for months. It is likely that the carriers will finally be revealed at the expo.
There are also many predictions that the European iPhone will be going 3G, with enhanced storage.
Leaked T-Mobile Germany ads announcing that the phone will be available November 12, shows the iPhone featuring UMTS/HSDPA 3G connectivity and boasting 16GB rather than 8GB of storage.Whether the ads are real or not are up in the air, but T-Mobile Germany has long been reported as the most likely carrier in Germany making the ads much more believable.
O2 is expected to retain the contract in the Uk and Orange in France, both of which have 3G networks.
Many are also speculating that a 3G high end iPhone will be released in the states before Christmas. According to media reports, Apple made a one-off payment of around 20M dollars plus ongoing licensing fees for a seven-year contract with radio-technology firm Interdigital which gives Apple access to 3G for the iPhone.
AT&T has a 3G network although less than 1% of Cingular customers have HSDPA capability—it’s only available in a dozen or so markets, which is why Apple didn’t go with 3G in the states to start with. However, a high end 3G phone would be widely received by those who could utilize it, and probably even by those that couldn’t simply due to the potential when they could and the fact that 3G is expanding rapidly across the U.S.
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