Ahead of an official press conference later today (Tuesday September 18th), it is though that O2 has been awarded the exclusive contract for distributing the iPhone in the UK.
Though its UK launch has been somewhat overshadowed by last week's unveiling of the new iPod touch - basically the iPhone without telephone capabilities - mobile operators had fought tooth and nail to win exclusive rights for the handset.
But the deal might not be as lucrative as one would think - one rival operator told the Guardian that the agreement was "madly money-losing".
It is thought that Apple played off the four major phone operators against each other - both Orange and T-Mobile thought they had won the contract at different points - and O2 reportedly "came from behind at the last minute" to seal the deal.
Though it was originally thought that the successful operator would have to hand over 10 per cent of its iPhone revenues to Apple, industry estimates place O2's debt at around 40 per cent.
The terms and length of the contract will be outlined at today's press conference.
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