Voda cited in Apple’s O2 break-out

Vodafone is in negotiations with Apple to sell iPhone products when O2’s two-year exclusive with the manufacturer ends in November.

Vodafone’s telesales support team has instructed customers calling for PAC codes to port to O2, in order to obtain the iPhone, to wait until the device is available to it also. A Vodafone customer service assistant also said, when contacted by Mobile News, that Vodafone was “in talks” with Apple about UK distribution.

Both Orange and T-Mobile have been widely reported to be negotiating terms with Apple about distributing its products also.

Apple is expected to open up UK distribution beyond O2 in November, two years after the original device launched, with older iPhone products. O2 is expected to retain its exclusivity on the new iPhone 3G S, but a new mass-market ‘Nano’ version to be launched by ahead of Christmas will likely be available across several network partners.

Vodafone and Apple refused to comment on speculation.

Vodafone brushed off speculation in March linking it to the iPhone when it launched a live portal formatted specifically for the device, showing links and widgets to sites including Top Gear, BBC News and BBC World on an iPhone device.

Vodafone claimed it was a generic image to reflect countries such as Portugal and Greece where it stocks the device despite being shown on its UK site.

Apple iPhone devices are sold in 70 different countries world wide, with Orange stocking the device in more countries than any other network.