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Tue, 06 May 2008 T-Mobile confirms 3G iPhone for Austria

T-Mobile confirms Apple will soon announce a 3G-based iPhone.

Gregg Keizer, Computerworld (US online})

T-Mobile on Monday confirmed that Apple will soon announce a 3G-based iPhone and said that its Austrian customers would be among the first to get their hands on the new smart phone, according to a newspaper report from Vienna.

On Monday, der Standard, an Austrian national daily, posted a story to its German-language website quoting T-Mobile saying a 3G iPhone would be available "soon" and that the Austria would be one the first markets to see the new Apple smart phone.

The newspaper also quoted T-Mobile spokesman Hendrik Kasteel as saying that the mobile provider would debut "more flexible" service plans when the 3G iPhone launched.

Apple launched the current iPhone in Austria in mid-March. T-Mobile, the wireless arm of Deutsche Telekom, is Apple's exclusive network partner in Germany and Austria; in the US, AT&T has exclusive rights to sell iPhone service contracts. In Austria, T-Mobile prices the iPhone at €399 for the 8GB model and €499 for the 16GB device.

Most analysts have predicted a June introduction of a 3G iPhone, probably at Apple's Worldwide Developers Conference, which runs 9-13 June in San Francisco. CEO Steve Jobs is expected to open WWDC with his usual keynote address and will likely unveil a new iPhone then.

The iPhone's first sales anniversary, 29 June, is another possible rollout date touted by some.

Apple and its partners may make other moves to spur sales, analysts have said, including having carriers such as AT&T subsidize purchases by offering rebates of $200 or reducing the price at the time of sale for customers who sign a new two-year service contract.

Apple declined to comment on der Standard's report. "We do not comment on rumor or speculation," said spokeswoman Jennifer Bowcock in an email. T-Mobile did not reply to questions and a request for confirmation of the account out of Austria.

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