Airtel to begin selling 3G iPhone from August 22, Vodafone silent

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Other countries that would begin retailing iPhone from August 22 are Czech Republic, Argentina, Uruguay, Poland, Singapore, Philippines and Romania to name a few.

"iPhone has been an iconic technological revelation of this year. Airtel has been at the forefront of innovation and customer delight in the Indian telecom sector. Introducing iPhone 3G to India further underscores our commitment to enrich the communication experience of all Airtel users," said Sanjay Kapoor, president (mobile services), Bharti Airtel.

Airtel and its smaller rival Vodafone-Essar were selected by Apple Inc. to distribute its globally popular iPhone in India.

Vodafone has not made any announcement yet about the date of iPhone launch.

Both Airtel and Vodafone are accepting bookings for the iPhone.

Although 3G (third generation) mobile services are not available in India at the moment, the iPhone is expected to sell like hot cakes because of its sleek look and functionality.

Internationally available for Rs.8000, the iPhone is expected to retail in India between Rs.16,000-30,000.

Bharti Airtel and smaller unlisted Vodafone-Essar, controlled by Britain's Vodafone Plc, controls over 40 percent of India's mobile market, which, thanks to call rates of as low as $0.01 a minute, availability of cheaper handsets and expansion of networks to smaller towns and rural areas, has leapfrogged the US to become the second largest (after China) and the world's fastest growing mobile market in the world. With Indian operators adding 8-9 million subscribers a month, at the end of June, total number of mobile users stood at 287 million and research firm Gartner expects the number to touch 737 million by 2012.

According to market analysts, mobile users in India have jumped 25 times between 2002 and 2007, but the potential for growth remains huge as just 23 percent of the billion-plus population has a mobile phone. Though India's mobile revolution is mainly confined to the cities, the real prize for phone companies is the vast rural market, where nearly 70 percent of India's 1.1 billion population live.

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