Vodafone launching iPhone on 14 January

Me too

Having apparently rushed-out an announcement last September, following the news that Orange had broken O2's UK stranglehold on the Apple iPhone, Vodafone has finally set a date for the launch on the iPhone on its own network.

That date is 14 January 2010. Being fourth (after O2, Orange and Tesco) Vodafone will presumably be keen to demonstrate the unique advantages of buying the iPhone through itself, rather than its competitors. However, it has chosen not to focus on price, with the exception of free calls to other Vodafone phones, for the duration of the initial contract, for those who pre-order.

"We started preparing our network over a year ago so that iPhone customers will really feel the advantage of being with Vodafone," said Guy Laurence, CEO of Vodafone UK.  "We will offer an outstanding iPhone experience wherever our customers live, work and travel, delivering speed and reliability - something our customers have told us they really value."

Here are the tariffs:

Small business customers can sign up to unlimited calls to landlines, included in their price plans:

If you want to use your iPhone as a modem, it will cost you £5 for 500MB, £10 for 1.5GB or £15 for 3GB.

For a quick comparison we had a look at O2, Orange and Tesco prices for a 32GB iPhone 3GS on a two year contract. For £44.05 per month, O2 charges you £96.89 up front, Orange is almost identical at £44.04 per month and £96.50, while Tesco wants £60 per month and £50, but chucks in a few extras.