So it's been a week since the launch of the  iPhone in the US. It'll be another 6 months before we see it here. Lot's of rumours and speculation is going around about who the carrier will be and how will Apple deal with a completely different marketplace the European mobile phone market is here. (Take a look at this very funny but interesting dismantling of a brand new iPhone by Revision3's David Randolph, right in front of the queueing public waiting for their new iPhone)

In Switzerland we have 3 major players in the mobile phone area. These are Swisscom, Orange and Sunrise.

Swisscom and Orange are the biggest players with Sunrise following up behind in 3rd place. Recently started offering Vodafone services over their network, this is interesting because it looks like it may have been a ploy to overt a 4th competitor into the network. Sunrise has been lagging behind for some years now as they have a lot of working rebuilding their reputation regarding service and support in their early days.

Across Europe there are many other mobile networks. Orange is probably the most well known across Europe, with T-Mobile (part of Deutsche Telecom), Vodaphone and O2 (recently aquired by Telefonica in Spain) also commonly known.

With this in mind, the challenge for Apple to negotiate a similar deal they have with AT&T in the US, with a company here in Europe will be interesting.

Consumers here vote with their feet and mobile phones change so frequently here it's hard to keep up. Phones are frequently given away to attract customers to new tarrifs and new network services. 3G is common, although not in every country. A recent trip to Spain reminded me just how slow GSM really is compaired to HSDPA which is what I'm usually used to here in Switzerland.

Customers also enjoy being able to switch their SIM between phones. Locked phones are common in the UK but not so common in Switzerland where you can buy a new unlocked phone for the same price as the locked version.

I shall be keeping a close eye on preceedings to see what comes of the iPhone's entry into Europe.

 Paul J Shadwell