Orange iPhone 3GS Availability/Release Confirmed

Whilst O2 s exclusivity concerning the iPhone in the UK has long since
been known to be coming to an end, its nice to see official confirmation
from another network that those who want to avail themselves of an
iPhone (specifically the new iPhone 3GS) and who, for whatever reason,
don t wish to sign up with O2, are going to actually have a choice of
carrier (long overdue in our opinion) what with Orange officially
announcing that they are set to offer the iPhone 3GS in the UK before
the year s out.
At the time of writing Orange s announcement is particularly unspecific
concerning pricing and an actual date of availability, but O2 have been
quick to respond to Orange s announcement stating:

We re proud that we ve been able to offer an exclusive iPhone deal to
our 20 million customers for the last two years. We always knew that
iPhone exclusivity was for a limited period of time, but our
relationship with Apple continues and will be an ongoing success. We
have over 1 million iPhone customers and they remain very important to us.

We aim to offer our customers the best devices on the market, including
becoming the home of Smartphones and we are really pleased to now add
another device in the Palm Pre. We also offer award-winning customer
service and benefits, which is why more people choose O2 than any other
network in the UK.

For those that don t know, O2 have UK exclusivity concerning the Palmย
Pre so it s not surprising that O2 would chisel in mention of the Pre
into their response " that said, the ongoing issues with the Palm Pre
and iTunes syncing (see: iTunes Palm Pre Syncing Update: In Short,
Forget it USB Implementers Forum Wades In, Palm Left Red Faced ) will
doubtless see many a prospective customer looking elsewhere (which is a
crying shame).

Those of you who are UK based and who are interested in registering
their interest in the up and coming Orange iPhone 3GS (you can include
both the wife and myself) can do so now via the currently pretty barren
Orange iPhone 3GS teaser site.

UPDATE: See Vodafone iPhone Availability/Release Confirmed iPhone Price
War (Vodafone vs Orange vs O2) On the Cards? .