News broke over a week ago on the Fone Zone buyout of Apple reseller Next Byte. Thought we’d better throw in some speculation on the subject, because we’ve had a few reader queries: could this offer any clues on the iPhone network deal?
In a word, no. Fone Zone may be Telstra exclusive, but that won’t make Next Byte the same. This is Fone Zone broadening the income portfolio – if Telstra gets iPhone, Fone Zone won’t need to be an Apple reseller to stock it. I’d almost think that, if it is anything at all (and I stress, I don’t think it is), it would be a firming of the idea that Telstra won’t have iPhone on their network. They want in on Apple goodies, and perhaps they aren’t expecting to see any in a Telstra-only store anytime soon?