Jon Holato

At a press event in the Regent St. Apple Store (largest in the UK), Steve Jobs announced that the UK iPhone would be available to O2 customers beginning November 9th of this year.

The iPhone, which will be available solely to O2 customers (similar to the multi-year contract with AT&T here in the U.S.), will cost £269; which is more than the $399 (£200) that it currently costs stateside. O2 subscribers must sign an 18-month contract at £35, £45, or £55 depending on the voice plan of their choosing. Included in this price is unlimited data usage.

Some upsetting news is that this first European iPhone will not be 3G, as many including myself had hoped for, but rather it’s pretty much the exact same device as is currently available in the U.S. as far as we consumers are concerned. However, in an interesting twist, O2 has partnered with European-wide Wi-Fi network The Cloud, which will provide 7,500 Wi-Fi hotspots for iPhone users.

It will be interesting to see the level of demand for iPhones in the UK come November 9th. In the U.S. people were manic, but the number of AT&T subscribers is much higher than that of O2. However, although O2 only has 5.5 million customers, 80% of their high-value customers said they want an iPhone, and 40% of other networks’ subscribers said they would switch for an iPhone. So while the UK isn’t likely to sell a million in 74 days, it could still move quite a few.

As for the iPhone in France and Germany, no official word yet but rumor has it that French company Orange and the German T-Mobile are still the front runners in their respective countries.