Apple's next-generation iPhone with faster Internet access will go on sale in Ireland and across Europe on July 11th at a range of lower prices, O2 has announced.
The phone price will be subsidised and priced according to which of the existing three iPhone tariffs a customer chooses to sign up to with the subsidised pricess staring at €49.
Existing iPhone customers will also be able to upgrade to the new device.
It will be available in an 8GB model and a 16GB model. The 8GB iPhone 3G will cost €49 on the €100 monthly iPhone tariff, €99 on the €65 tariff and €169 on the €45 tariff. The 16GB iPhone 3G will cost €129 on the €100 monthly tariff option, €169 on the €65 tariff and €229 on the €45 tariff. All iPhone tariffs include anytime minutes, texts and a 1GB data bundle.
Apple is changing the way it makes money on iPhones, and carriers may have to subsidise the phone to make it cheaper for consumers to buy - meaning customers in some markets prepared to take on big monthly contracts could get it for free.
Apple's improved iPhone, which runs on a so-called third-generation networks offering faster data speeds, will sell for as little as $199 in the United States - half the current entry-level price.
In the United States, AT&T has already warned these subsidies would hit earnings in 2008 and 2009, but European carriers were made no comment on any earnings impact.