Last week we reported about the iPhone coming to India with Vodafone - well, it turns out that the deal is non exclusive! Airtel is also bringing the iPhone to India according to this release. 

 

Earlier the Economic Times had reported that Apple was in talks with both Vodafone and Airtel for an exclusive deal. 

 

This changes all the analysis with respect to Vodafone getting the upper hand keeping in mind number portability. The playing field is now level! I would choose Airtel over Vodafone anyday! Better GPRS packages, better customer service - and they don’t try to hide it all and claim superior service by using a pug which they then kill. 

 

Airtel hasn’t said anything about the price either but again i suspect that 17 - 18k for the base model is likely. This move is great for consumers because it is likely to ensure that some sort of price competition comes into the picture. Whether the 2 players collectively will function as a collusive oligopoly is yet to be seen.  

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