Apple iPhone a Combination Cellphone

Another analyst said the fact that Vodafone had not said the deal was exclusive indicated it would be open to other operators.

Last month, Telecom hinted the iPhone could be used on its $300 million 850MHz GSM/Edge network, to be introduced in November.

Yesterday, a Telecom spokeswoman said it would not be revealing its plans just yet.

Vodafone would not provide any details of the deal announced late on Tuesday.
Apple introduced its iPhone, a combination cellphone, Internet browser and iPod portable media player, in the US last June.

Nathan Burley, telecommunications analyst for research company Ovum, said Vodafone would probably pay Apple a big chunk of the calling and data revenues it earned from iPhone owners using the Vodafone network.

The revenue share paid to Apple would depend on several factors, including whether Apple would also sell handsets directly into New Zealand or if another mobile operator got rights to sell the iPhone.

Details of agreements between Apple and other mobile network operators are scant, but reports have suggested AT&T, the mobile carrier and exclusive iPhone partner in the US, pays between 15 per cent and 40 per cent of calling and data revenue to Apple, plus a fat margin for handset sales.