SINGAPORE (Thomson Financial) - Singapore Telecommunications Ltd and its
subsidiaries have signed a deal with Apple Inc. to roll out its iPhone in India,
the Philippines and Australia later this year, SingTel said on Monday.
The iPhone is Apple's internet-enabled multimedia mobile phone with a
multi-touch screen.
iPhones will be available to subscribers of SingTel in Singapore, Bharti
Airtel in India, Globe Telecom in the Philippines and Optus in Australia, the
company said.
Apple has been negotiating with operators to bring iPhones into Asia, but
had found it difficult to reach a deal particularly in China, where operators
rejected Apple's demand for a cut in the operators' revenues from iPhone sales.
The gadget has been made available to consumers in Asia by traders importing
it directly from the United States. The product is not yet supported by telecom
operators in the region, which means some of the iPhone's multimedia functions
will not be available to users.
It is not clear whether SingTel agreed to such an arrangements. SingTel did
not provide additional details.
Last week, Apple signed a deal with Vodafone, which aims to make the iPhone
available in Australia, the Czech Republic, Egypt, Greece, Italy, India,
Portugal, New Zealand, South Africa and Turkey later this year.
($1=S$1.36)
jonathan.burgos@thomsonreuters.com
.
jb/nt
COPYRIGHT
Copyright Thomson Financial News Limited 2008. All rights reserved.
The copying, republication or redistribution of Thomson Financial News Content,
including by framing or similar means, is expressly prohibited without the prior
written consent of Thomson Financial News.
|