As Telstra's rivals prepare for their 11 July 3G iPhone launches, the national carrier remains silent over speculation that it derailed a deal with Apple to resell the device.
Telstra had arranged a substantial 3G iPhone order with Apple before negotiations broke down between the two parties due to disagreements on whether a Telstra iPhone would come preloaded with Sensis content, an anonymous source told The Australian Financial Review.
A spokesperson for the telco today refused to comment on the report, saying that Telstra had "nothing more to add" on the iPhone at this stage.
Guy Cranswick, media platform and channels analyst for research group IBRS, believes that any possible dispute between Apple and Telstra could be classed as a "classic cyber-territory issue".
"The negotiation over the content issue would come down to whether or not Apple thought it possible to achieve all of its marketing and sales objectives without Telstra," he said.
"Given its position in the market, Telstra would be an important partner for Apple to have on-board, but Apple has always been very intent on keeping total brand integrity as well," added Cranswick.
Apple did not respond to requests for comment.
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tristan
16/06/2008 06:37 PM
sucked in Telstra
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ItsAllGood
16/06/2008 09:57 PM
Can't wait to hear what Telstra has to say when half of their mobile customers jump ship on July 11. I'll be the first.
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bb11878
16/06/2008 10:40 PM
I just cant believe telstra is so stupid...just because apple sisnt want to allow links to white pages yello pages and where is they refused to see the iphone. well i didnt want to do this but I am leaving telstra after 17 years of having a mobile contract and phone number with telstra if I was a share holder I would be so angry if you look at the crap phone selection with telstra it is a descrase this was there chance to have a flagship phone and they just blew it. who is in charge of this company they should be ashamed
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wlp
17/06/2008 01:01 AM
thank god. well played apple
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Dean
17/06/2008 08:54 AM
Hehe, it's pretty funny. Finally someone comes along who can put Telstra in it's place :-)
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kirbykia
17/06/2008 09:04 AM
bb11878, You have been with telstra for 17 years or you are 17 years old i cant tell from that post full of spelling mistakes and and what can only loosly as sentances. Back to school before you come back on the net please. As for tristan, deetee, boost-juice. Grow up! Get a Brain!.
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man.dovvn
17/06/2008 09:44 AM
Troll.
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unidabullet
17/06/2008 10:05 AM
Telstra lost the "Jesus" phone?? Telstra have lost me too.@kirbykia You're joking aren't you? "and and" "loosly". You sir are a retard.
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michael
17/06/2008 10:10 AM
I don't see how Telstra is still going with their expensive phone and internet plans and terrible customer service. Their internet service runs like a disaster. Hopefully iPhone will be a wake up call to them. Can't wait July 11th.
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Guy Incongnito
17/06/2008 11:07 AM
Telstra have the absolute worst business practices in Australia. They treat their staff and customers like dirt, and charge premium prices for sub-standard products and services. Meanwhile Sol Trujillo gives himself multi million dollar payrises, which is an insult to every Telstra customer. The iPhone fiasco is a shining example of how antiquated and out of touch they are. I urge everyone to send a message and support Vodafone, Optus or any other telco that values its workers, clients and is dedicated to providing fantastic service at reasonable costs.
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Graham
17/06/2008 11:37 AM
Sadly, out here in rural Australia, I'm stuck with Telstra NextG as the ONLY broadband and mobile phone service that will reach me. You'd think that would make me grateful to Telstra but it doesn't. The fact that they charge about ten times what I would have to pay for a better service from almost anyone else makes me despise them even more.
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n3mi
17/06/2008 12:57 PM
telstra doesn't even know what an iphone is..
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Joey Jojo
17/06/2008 01:30 PM
n3mi: "telstra doesn't even know what an iphone is.." CNET, i'm trying to find the "Report a comment that doesn't add anything to the discussion" button but i just can't find it! :) n3mi - Really! Telstra does know what an iPhone is, they are in the middle of negotiations to on-sell the iPhone, this article is speculating that Telstra may have blown the deal...for now. Doesn't mean they will NEVER sell it. It just means that they were not able to announce on June the 10th that they would be selling it from July 11th. With 3 weeks to go, they could still make it in time!
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cn
17/06/2008 03:38 PM
if they cannot secure the iPhone and is availble on another network with an unlimited data service (similar to Telstra's Hiptop service) i'll be jumping ship straight away.
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mattye77
17/06/2008 04:35 PM
kyrbykia - nice one, but you missed out on sentances. haha!!! BB11878 that is the funniest post i've seen for a while. you must be a looser. :-P
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Telstra Shareholder
17/06/2008 09:56 PM
As a Telstra Shareholder and a customer in a regional Australian area I will be outraged if Telstra does not support the iPhone on their NextG mobile network. 1) the iPhone will generate more revenue from data 2) the iPhone will attract more customers who want to make use to the iPhone features - which are streets ahead of any other mobile phone available. 3) if Telstra doesn't support the iPhone on NextG then Telstra risks loosing existing customers as they defect to Voda and Optus just so they can use an iPhone 4) loading Telstra applications onto iPhone should be a non issue... it should be up to the customer if these applications are to be installed or not. Telstra should not be forcing products on their customers. If they want to encourage customers to use these products then make them available for free from the App Store and offer customers a data credit if they download them.
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Tom
18/06/2008 06:09 PM
I wonder if Telstra figured out that the Apple released the iPhone SDK, so it could have made as much Sensis content as it wanted.
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mwiles
18/06/2008 09:11 PM
Telstra have a duty to their shareholders to provide the most profitable phone for carriers to the Australian market. If they don't on launch 1000's of people will move to Optus or Vodaphone. The Telstra board should all step down.
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Izaiah
18/06/2008 10:57 PM
I have had the unfortunate experience of being a Telstra dealer for the past 12 months, previously being with another n3wer telco. Since working as a dealer I have to admit that the company is the most annoying to work with for a few reasons: 1. ignorant of customers and market wants and needs 2. ridiculous and meaningless infrastructure and jargon 3. claims to be the most superior network in Australia. I qualify my statements by saying that Telstra does nothing for making data or calls realistically reasonably priced, they 'improve' outdated systems with 'better' systems like Siebel that take up twice as much time to use, and yes they have the biggest footprint 3G network, but the arrogance of the company to charge the $$$ they do for such a crappy and meagre experience makes me pity those who must use their insane rip-off services, and those poor, poor fools who have no idea there are much better services out there. I am ashamed to sell Tel$tra product$ and $ervice$.
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Dylstra
19/06/2008 12:10 AM
I'm in the same boat as Graham. I live in rural Australia with patchy Next G coverage at best. My only hope for an iPhone is Telstra offering it. And then getting the Next G network to work as well as the CDMA one did...
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adsmell
22/06/2008 11:24 AM
Surely everyone remembers the 'Stick to your knitting' comment made early on by telstra (http://www.theage.com.au/news/biztech/telstra-to-apple-stick-to-your-knitting/2007/02/15/1171405363291.html). I didnt quite understand this - were they trying undermine the probable success of this thing to try and keep oblivious customers tied to their rip off services on the hardware they choose?? It would be nice if Apple flatly refused to offer it to them after this this somewhat baseless early claim.
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