Tesco To Distribute Apple iPhone In UK

UK's biggest supermarket will sell the popular Apple iPhone 3G and 3GS in the UK through its mobile arm, Tesco Mobile although no release dates have yet been confirmed.

A spokesperson told Times Online that "We would love to get it in our stores before Christmas and would love to bring a bit of Tesco value to the iPhone and offer something very different to what is out there."

Should the move come before Christmas, Tesco Mobile will be third network and the first MVNO (mobile virtual network operator) in the world to sell the iPhone. More importantly, it will be a set-back for Vodafone which announced back in September that it will be selling the iPhone in 2010.

Tesco Mobile is the fastest mobile phone operator thanks to the clout of Tesco as a supermarket and one of the biggest UK employees. The iPhone will be available on pay monthly and pay as you go and Tesco is urging prospective customers to register their interests.

O2 and Tesco each own half of Tesco Mobile and the entry of the latter in the race to distribute the iPhone means that the rest of the market - including the likes of T-Mobile, Three and Virgin Mobile - is likely to follow by the end of the first quarter of 2010.