Despite all the stuff in the other threads about the difficulty of getting iPhone into Europe, the device will no doubt be offered here eventually. So... which provider do you think will carry it first?
I consider the analysts that are saying Orange is a good bet because of their EDGE network to be completely clueless, as Orange is not all that popular and practically every other network here skipped EDGE to use WCDMA with HSDPA. So I think we will get the Euro 3G version of the iPhone soon - the two versions may have been developed side-by-side, like OSX-PPC and OSX-Intel. Would make business sense.
My guesses (at least for the Netherlands) are...
1) Vodafone - great presence in all markets, have recently (finally) started offering flat rate data plans for only EUR 9,50 ($13) a month - 50 MByte/month fair use, 1.8 Mbit speed - they would need something like that to make iPhone a success. Maybe they're preparing the market? The Nokia N95 is their current 'top Web phone'.
2) T-Mobile - also good presence, have offered flat rate data for several years now and have a good collection of WiFi access points all over Europe. That could be a great combo plan! They offer all kinds of smart phones and have a good presence in the business market.
I consider the analysts that are saying Orange is a good bet because of their EDGE network to be completely clueless, as Orange is not all that popular and practically every other network here skipped EDGE to use WCDMA with HSDPA. So I think we will get the Euro 3G version of the iPhone soon - the two versions may have been developed side-by-side, like OSX-PPC and OSX-Intel. Would make business sense.
My guesses (at least for the Netherlands) are...
1) Vodafone - great presence in all markets, have recently (finally) started offering flat rate data plans for only EUR 9,50 ($13) a month - 50 MByte/month fair use, 1.8 Mbit speed - they would need something like that to make iPhone a success. Maybe they're preparing the market? The Nokia N95 is their current 'top Web phone'.
2) T-Mobile - also good presence, have offered flat rate data for several years now and have a good collection of WiFi access points all over Europe. That could be a great combo plan! They offer all kinds of smart phones and have a good presence in the business market.