In case it wasn't
plainly obvious yet, Deutsche Telekom has finally confirmed that it's been in official talks with Apple to bring the iPhone to its German T-Mobile subsidiary -- though it has nothing specific to report about the outcome of those talks. T-Mobile Germany's CEO did say, however, that he fully expects Apple to make official European partner announcements "well ahead" of the holidays in an effort to cash in on the Festivus cheer. Concurrently, word is spreading that Italy's
TIM may be involved in talks, too, making Apple reps a very busy group east of the pond these past few weeks. Whether there'll be any 3G involved remains to be seen, but either way, it looks like there will be plenty of
some kind of iPhone going around Europe by year's end.
[Thanks, Mattia]
Read - Deutsche Telekom
Read - TIM
Echoing statements made by other carriers offering the iPhone, Deutsche Telekom has gone on record at its recent annual meeting saying that iPhone customers on its T-Mobile network in Germany are shattering mobile internet usage stats, outpacing users of other handsets by a factor of 30 (yes, thirty). Without going into too much detail -- wouldn't want to irritate the Cupertino mothership, after all -- DT said that it has sold in excess of 100,000 units since its November launch, a number that meets its expectations. The smart money says that data usage is going nowhere but up once the darned thing launches with a serious radio, too, so let's just hope the satisfaction doesn't turn into sorrow when the airwaves get saturated with overzealous Safari sessions.
