Mambo Italiano: iPhone for Italy looking likely

About the supposed 44% of UMTS phones in italy: these are mainly sending sms, i have never seen someone use a videocall, and internet traffic is too expensive to not have an all-inclusive contract. so the only money apple will make , igf this news is anything near to truth, is by selling the device itself, which will then be jailbroken and used with the byuers old operator. Telecom italia has made, in the past any kind of move to increasse theyr customers share

Why does TUAW need to add some kind of "local flavour" to every post about a country other than America? If it's not Sadun trying to write in German, it's pointless titles like this one.

Quit the stereotyping and just stick to the facts.

Mambo Italiano is a nice Candian movie, BTW

Okay, and a song.

Italy has 42% of users who already are using 3g phones and all the italian providers nixed Apple proposal. Gprs phone and also the revenue scared them.

For those of you wondering, "why Italy?:" Italy has the largest penetration of mobile phones in all of Europe (this is a fact). They're also the most trendy & fashionable of Europe (pure speculation on my part, but I've lived there for quite a while & find it to be true ;)

It's only a rumor, but still on the iPhone there are already Tim (telecom italia mobile) customized profiles from 1.1.2
I don't think this will sell well here unless we'll get an exclusive 3G model, because without the revenue share model the phone will cost more (ok there are people here that pay 500€ for an N95) and at this time people who wanted the iphone so badly already got it at a convenient (since the favorable $->€ conversion) or an insane (through ebay or "honest" sellers) price

i hope this is true - the exclusive shared revenue model might work in the us but for many markets the contractless pay as you go models are more popular for the general consumer

many people in non iphone countries pay extra to get it unlocked so apple can have good sales at a higher price point... though they really don't seem to get the international markets as well as they do the us

I've correct some mistakes on Google Translation.

Part #1

The phone will be in the new UMTS version. There won't be There won't be 'revenue sharing' nor exclusive: only an advantage of at least six months for TIM (Telecom Italia Mobile).

The iPhone arrives in Italy
Telecom ha già firmato Telecom has already signed

Jobs was convinced to change the strategy that led to the success of the phone.
No exclusive agreements and nothing percentage of traffic generated by each user.


The signing came directly Franco Benabè (Telecom Italia CEO): in those days he already was in the USA for the road show presentation of his "new Telecom Italy". On 31 March he was in New York, shortly after flew to the West Coast. Official Destination: Los Angeles with rapid shift to Cupertino, headquarters of Apple. Steve Jobs was imperative: the agreements must be signed at the highest levels and in Cupertino. But it was a quick trade, because everything was ready to seal the agreement that will bring the iPhone in Italy in a few weeks.
An agreement made possible by the work carried out for months by Luca Luciani, the number one Tim (mobile division of Telecom Italia): knowkn for his "Waterloo spectacle", he can earns the merit of being able to persuade Steve Jobs to change strategy.

The agreement is revolutionary because it marks a turning point, as important as sudden, on the strategies of the "Gruppo della Mela" (Apple company). It is precisely for this has been covered so far, to the point that even now are indiscretions and rumors that came out.
It's revolutionary because only Telecom Italy, entering in the Italian market, Jobs would change the formula which has built the success of its super-phone so far: exclusive agreements with a single operator in each market, and the mechanism of 'revenue sharing ', under which Jobs collects a percentage, and sometimes very expensive - 30% -on the traffic generated by each iPhone user.


Broadly speaking the agreement consists on the following points.
1) The Italian market will not stare the 2G iPhone 2G but only the new, third generation of Umts iPhone that best exploit the strong development of broadband mobile Italian.
2) The agreement with Telecom Italy will be not based on 'revenue sharing': no more traffic percentages but an higher selling price. And not less higher.
3) Finally, an not-exclusive agreement with Telecom Italy, but an advantage of several months given to the group by Franco Bernabè. One advantage that is already in practice: the Telecom system is already essentially ready to accept the iPhone in its network, technological and sales. A follower operator, starting now, when the iPhone will officially not be a Tim exclusive, will still need time. Going out of the generic: Vodafone or H3g probably the first operators to benefit from the lack of exclusivity, should run in order to bring the iPhone before next Christmas. By the summer of 2008 there will be only Tim.

At first it seems an odd agreement. Telecom Italy earns a lot: brings home the first iPhone and paying much less than her predecessors. Why Jobs would accept all this?

Uhm, I'm really doubtful about this news. Why Italy is so special?
By the way, I am italian..

Why associate mambo with Italy?