iPhone wins access to more dumb pipes

The handset may not be God, but the JesusPhone has certainly won another zero-sum battle for customer loyalty over the owners of dumb pipes.

Today both Orange and the Vodafone announced they will carry the iPhone in the UK. Virgin Mobile is also said to be “desperate” to carry the phone, while the only uninterested carrier is 3 (the commodity 3G operator) uninterested.

This ends the two year exclusive of O2 in Great Britain and Ireland. Exclusives were the norm for the 2007 rollout and the original iPhone rev share model, but not for the 2008 rollout where multiple carriers rolled out the iPhone. This explains how Apple plans to grow its market share, and also points to non-exclusive sales in its home market — presumably with Verizon, the largest carrier. Presumably the rest of Europe and Japan will eventually follow.

It also marks a retrenchment of Vodafone from its policy of promoting commodity handsets. Perhaps it has something to do with the iPhone's new status as Britain’s “coolest brand” — well ahead of YouTube, BlackBerry and anything by Sir Richard Branson.