Infinite Loop / The Apple Ecosystem

Australia’s Telstra hopes to say “G’day” to the iPhone

The CEO of Telstra confirmed that the company has begun talks with Apple in …

As the iPhone slowly expands its reach, one of the big questions has been what countries it will pop up in next. One such country is Australia, where Telstra has confirmed that the company is talking to Apple about the iPhone, according to MarketWatch.

Actually, the company has both started talks with Apple and also started testing the device, according to CEO Sol Trujillo. All the usual rhetoric is there, including a line about the iPhone "delivering an enhanced experience for Telstra's customers." Trujillo also suggested that Apple would need to release a 3G iPhone before Telstra would be interested,which makes sense since the carrier is currently switching over to a shiny new 3G network called "Next G."

Finally, Trujillo also said that current European deals (which include revenue sharing) "won't have a bearing on a possible deal between Apple and Telstra." It sounds to me like Telstra may not want to pay Apple such a high revenue sharing percentage as it has demanded from others. But we all know how Dear Leader Steve is—if the money ain't there, the iPhone ain't there either. The two have plenty of time to get a deal worked out though; there's obviously no 3G iPhone yet and Telstra won't be fully using its new network until January. 

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