Irish users will have to wait for iPhone

GADGET fanatics waiting to get their hands on Apple’s new iPhone mobile telephone are going to have to wait just that little bit longer in Ireland.

Yesterday Apple announced the phone would be available in Britain and the North from November 9 at a price of €387 per handset — but only on Britain’s O2 network.

Apple yesterday was unable to say when the much-awaited gadget will be available to subscribers in the Republic and through which of the country’s four mobile phone firms it would be available.

However, it is expected the iPhone will not be available in Irish stores until after Christmas.

Designed as a cross between a portable music and video player, a pocket computer and a mobile phone, the iPhone has been hailed as the “next big thing” in telecommunications.

In the US, where it was first launched earlier this year, sales have reached the one million mark but technology experts say the figures are disappointing for such a hyped product.

“They were expecting much bigger sales than that and had to drop the US price by $200,” said Niall Kitson, editor of the PC Live technology and gaming magazine.

“The iPhone is very impressive and an awful lot of people would like to get their hands on it.

“But the interesting thing is will the phone be enough to get people to switch to O2?”

The way it is sold in the US and Britain is different: subscribers have to pay for their handset and then have to sign up to a two-year pay-monthly contract with just one network.

Usually consumers on pre-pay deals are used to getting a free handset — with many similar features to the iPhone — and then paying around €30 a month to a firm of their choice like O2 or Vodafone for a minimum of a year.

But in Britain subscribers will have to pay €387 for the handset then sign up to an O2 deal starting at €50 a month. The phone will work with no other network in Britain than O2.

In the US, the phone costs €100 less at €287. Pay-monthly deals start at €43 for 450 minutes a month up to €159 for 6,000 minutes. Consumers can only sign up to the AT&T network.

Yesterday Apple boss Steve Jobs said the price difference between the US and Britain was largely down to value added tax, which in Britain is 17.5%.

Based on Irish VAT rates of 21%, Irish consumers could end up paying prices closer to the British level rather than those enjoyed by US subscribers.

Mr Kitson said although no date had yet been fixed for the phone’s release on the Irish market, the phone would appeal greatly to tech-savvy consumers.

“One of the selling points is that you do not have a keypad but a touch-screen instead.”

Sensitive technology inside the iPhone also means when the device is turned sideways the picture on the screen rotates to stay upright but goes widescreen.

The phone can also latch onto fast wireless networks so callers can access the internet, which can also be accessed through a slower type of mobile phone connection.