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Orange, T-Mobile could get iPhone in the U.K.

Apple may expand the number of carriers it has in the U.K. as O2's exclusive deal ends in September.

Jim Dalrymple Special to CNET News
Jim Dalrymple has followed Apple and the Mac industry for the last 15 years, first as part of MacCentral and then in various positions at Macworld. Jim also writes about the professional audio market, examining the best ways to record music using a Macintosh. He is a member of the CNET Blog Network and is not an employee of CNET. He currently runs The Loop.
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Jim Dalrymple

Like it does in most countries, Apple has a preferred wireless carrier in the United Kingdom. In this case the carrier is O2, but that may not be the case for long, at least for the iPhone 3G.

Apple

According to a report on Mobile Today, Apple may open up iPhone 3G sales to other wireless carriers in the U.K., namely O2 competitors Orange and T-Mobile. O2's exclusive with Apple reportedly ends in September, giving Apple a couple of months to set up other deals.

T-Mobile is so sure that they will get the contract for the iPhone 3G that its call center employees have already begun telling customers that it may have the iPhone in the future, according to Mobile Today

If Apple were to open up the iPhone to other carriers it could increase sales of the older model phones, while continuing sales of the new iPhone 3GS with O2.

Many people in the U.S. are hoping Apple will do the same thing here. Rumors of talks between Apple and wireless carrier Verizon have been floating around for months, but so far nothing official has happened.

Verizon's work on its 4G network, which is based on the GSM standard, have kept the rumors alive. AT&T is said to be negotiating with Apple to keep its exclusivity deal.