From the Times UK -Great news I reckon and hopefully they will aslo bring it to Australia. Vodafone have always been a very ambitious company are the largest mobile operator in the world. They pride themselves on having the best technology - I am on Three now and find them poor compared to vodafone in terms of customer service. They own Verizon in the US. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vodafone http://business.timesonline.co.uk/tol/business/industry_sectors/telecoms/article2002888.ece I didn't know that the Vodafone CEO and Steve Jobs were mates. "However, sources familiar with Vodafone, an £88 billion company, said that it was pushing hard to secure a deal. Its sheer size and spending power should give it the edge. In addition, Arun Sarin, the chief executive of Vodafone, is known to have a good relationship with Steve Jobs, the Apple chief executive. The two have held private talks about a deal Despite Apple’s size – last year it turned over a fraction of Vodafone’s £31.1 billion in revenues – the lustre of the brand has ensured that it is holding the upper hand in the negotiations
The deal to distribute the iPhone in the UK high street was signed early this year - hasn't been publicy announced though. If Vodafone are to have the iPhone rights either this earlier deal has been ripped up or the two companies are going to have to go a rapprochement. I used to work on some projects which involved Vodafone and they have been having some problems of late (see board changes, profit/loss problems despited large revenues etc etc.)