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Our Bureau

New Delhi, Aug 6 Bharti Airtel and Vodafone Essar will launch the iPhone 3G in India on August 22.

This is the first time Apple has partnered with two different operators in the same country for launching iPhone. The price of the device will be announced closer to the launch. Globally iPhone costs between $199 (around Rs 8,000) and $299 (Rs 12,000) depending on the model.

In some countries operators are offering iPhone bundled with a connection for an initial cost of just €1 (Rs 65) and a monthly rental of around €70 (Rs 4,500). In Japan, for example, iPhones are available for a monthly fee of just Rs 1,100.

Industry sources said that iPhone in India may be priced higher initially though operators could also offer bundled options. Neither Airtel nor Vodafone were willing to comment on the pricing. Apple had decided to partner mobile operators in each country for launching iPhones on a revenue sharing model.

While the iPhone3G will work on existing networks, the real experience will come once the operators launch their third generation services.

For consumers, Apple’s iPhone3G combines three products in one — a feature rich phone, a widescreen iPod, and an Internet device with rich HTML email and a desktop-class web browser. It has built-in GPS for expanded location-based mobile services, and iPhone 2.0 software, which includes support for Microsoft Exchange ActiveSync, and runs hundreds of third party applications available through the new App Store.

While these features are useful for enterprise mobile users, analysts at Gartner reckon that corporate usage may be limited to services such as voice, email, Web browsing and the storage of personal information.

Commenting on the launch, Mr Sanjay Kapoor, President of Mobile Services at Bharti Airtel, said, “iPhone has been the iconic technology revelation of this year. Airtel has been at the forefront of innovation and customer delight in the Indian telecom sector. Introducing iPhone 3G to India further underscores our commitment to enrich the communication experience of all Airtel users.”

More Stories on : Telecommunications | New Products & Services | Bharti Tele-Ventures Ltd

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