iPhone coming to Telstra?
Danny Gorog20 March 2008, 1:03 PM
A Telstra job ad for an iPhone developer is sending rumour sites crazy predicting that our favourite telco will win the Australian iPhone distribution franchise.
The subject of which Australian Telco will get exclusive rights to distribute the iPhone has been a source of much discussion, but if a recent report on 9to5 Mac is to be believed it may end up in the hands of Telstra. 9
9to5 Mac is linking to a job opening posted by Telstra's search-engine and mapping division, Sensis, looking for a 'BA with a technical front-end UI background to help us design cutting-edge search applications for the iPhone. This isn’t boring old specification-heavy BA work. This is exciting and agile BA work to help us envision mobile search applications that work great and look beautiful.'
According to Sensis, the right person will have a 'combination of creative flair, geekiness, and detail orientation to get the job done.'
While this certainly is anything but a foregone conclusion it's a reasonable indication yet that Telstra is the forerunner to get iPhone distribution rights. Then again, Sensis was also one of the first Australian companies to produce a Dashboard Widget when 10.4 was released, so it may just be that Sensis is keen to ride the iPhone popularity wave when it is released.
Apple seems to favour partnering with incumbents in the markets it has entered thus far, making Telstra the obvious choice in Australia. Others have pontificated that Apple will choose to go with a pan-Asian carrier - like Vodafone, or Singtel (Optus), but my hunch is that it Apple will choose distinct carriers in each market. Granted, it's more difficult negotiating multiple iPhone distribution deals but doing so gives Apple a better bargaining position with all the carriers it deals with.
With over 100,000 downloads in four days, the iPhone SDK is going to be a hit. Additionally, with news today that developers have downloaded more than 100,000 copies of the SDK in the four days since launch and the recent Exchange integration announcement, Apple's negotiating position with new carriers seems to be strengthening every day. Even though there have been lots of 'iPhone Killers' unleashed on the market since its launch last June, none seem to be slowing down the iPhone's reputation as the best of breed mobile phone available today.