In Germany Apple had partnered with only one operator for marketing the iPhone. Telekom Deutschland (former T-Mobile) has had the right to sell the Apple iPhone in Germany exclusively since the launch of the first iPhone in 2007. Telekom offered the iPhone with special voice and mobile data plans with a long term commitment of 24 months and with SIM lock only. Now, other operators such as Vodafone and O2 Germany may market the Apple iPhone in Germany. But don’t get your hopes up too soon and count on dropping purchase prices for the iPhone 4 in Germany because of more competitors selling the smart-phone – the iPhone 4 will remain high-priced. Here is an overview of the iPhone offers of Telekom, Vodafone, O2 Germany and other mobile phone providers and retailers in Germany.

German operator Vodafone has launched a new 3G web stick offer under its discount brand o.tel.o. Smart-phone, netbook and notebook users can choose between four different tariff options with 9 minutes to 9 days for charges between € 0.19 and € 9.99 for accessing the Internet over the Vodafone network in Germany via GPRS or UMTS. The maximum data transfer speed is reduced to 3.6 mbps (download). Once the booked billing cycle has expired or the data volume of 500 MB or 1 GB – according to the tariff chosen – has been used up, the web session stops automatically and the smart-phone or notebook user has to book another mobile Internet session if he or she wants to stay connected to the web.

Next Tuesday, October 19th, Vodafone Germany and SevenOne Intermedia GmbH launch a new pay as you go tariff called “Fyve”. The new prepaid price plan offers low rates of € 0.09 per minute for mobile phone calls within Germany as well as for international calls from Germany to 33 selected countries and of € 0.09 per message for texting. Checking voice mail in Germany is free of charge. Accessing the Internet by cell phone or smart-phone (or even by using a 3G web stick and a netbook or a notebook) with the Fyve prepaid plan is only possible when the customer has booked one of the two mobile data tariff options “Vielsurfer-Paket” for € 5.00 per month or “Flatrate-Paket” for € 10.00 per month.

German network operator Vodafone is offering three new Android smart-phones to prepaid customers. Buyers of a “CallYa OpenEnd Internet” prepaid starter package can choose between the LG GT540 for € 149.90, the HTC Wildfire for € 199.90 and the Sony Ericsson X10 Mini Pro for € 249.90. While the LG GT540 and the Sony Ericsson X10 Mini Pro are available for similar retail prices at other stores in Germany, the HTC Wildfire offer of Vodafone is quite attractive. However, at the moment interested mobile phone users can only pre-order the HTC Wildfire at the Vodafone website and will have to wait until the end of November for the new phone being delivered by Vodafone. The LG GT540 and the Sony Ericsson X10 Mini Pro are in stock at Vodafone stores.

In Germany, five different smart-phones running the new Microsoft operating system Windows Phone 7 will be launched at the end of October (probably October 21st). While smart-phones from the device-makers HTC (HD7, 7 Mozart and 7 Trophy), LG (7 Optimus) and Samsung (Omnia 7) will be available at stores of the mobile operators Telekom (T-Mobile), Vodafone, O2 Germany and E-Plus, Windows Phone 7 handsets from Dell will not appear in stores in Germany. Select models of HTC, LG and Samsung will also be available at Microsoft Store locations and from Amazon. This article gives you an overview of the features and retail prices of the first Windows Phone 7 smart-phones in Germany.

German broadcasting station RTL has reduced the purchase price for its prepaid web stick RTL Surfstick. In October, netbook or notebook users can buy the 3G modem with prepaid SIM card for € 14.95 plus additional € 5.00 for delivery. The prepaid package includes a starting balance of € 10.00 for accessing the Internet over the mobile network of operator Vodafone. Mobile Internet users just buying the prepaid SIM card of RTL with a starting balance of € 10.00 pay € 9.95 for it plus the charge for delivery. Customers can choose whether they want to have a regular SIM card for using it in a web stick or rather a micro SIM card for using it in the Apple iPad WiFi + 3G.

For Apple fans it is breaking news: There is increasing indication that the Telekom will lose its exclusive rights to market the Apple iPhone in Germany with contract soon. According to German web magazine Macnotes, Vodafone will start selling the iPhone 4 in Germany on October 28th. Until recently, Vodafone had been offering its customers imported iPhone smart-phones. The iPhone 4 will be available at Vodafone stores only with net lock and with a plan with a long minimum term commitment of 24 months. That means people buying the iPhone 4 at a Vodafone store in Germany can only use it with a Vodafone SIM card and plan. Also: From today the German self-service wholesale retailer Metro offers for sale the iPhone 3G S without SIM lock and plan until October 6th.

Android smart-phones are becoming hot stuff for the common cell phone user. They are easy to use and offer several online services of Google, they always come with a touch-screen, and – that’s very important for many mobile phone users – they are cheaper than the Apple iPhone. HTC, LG, Motorola, Samsung and Sony Ericsson are just the well-known handset manufacturer building Android smart-phones, there are several others such as Acer, Garmin-Asus, General Mobile or Huawei. Which means: People looking for a new Android smart-phone have many options. This overview shows the Android smart-phone available at stores in Germany with the Android OS version running on these phones and the purchase prices buyers should expect currently.

German TV station RTL has launched a 3G web stick and different prepaid mobile data tariffs for accessing the Internet over the Vodafone network in Germany. The prepaid starter package including the UMTS surf stick Huawei E160E, a SIM card and credit of € 10.00 is available at the RTL web store at www.rtlsurfstick.de for a purchase price of € 24.95. The SIM card for the Vodafone network with a starting balance of € 10.00, but without the web stick costs € 9.95. In both cases, buyers also have to pay € 5.00 for delivery.

German operator Vodafone has introduced new mobile data tariffs and modified its existing price plans for Apple iPad users. First of all there is a new mobile data flat rate tariff for online sessions that last up to 24 hours for a charge of € 4.95 for every day of usage which is called “Basic Tagesflat 24h”. Second, the tariff “Basic Monatspaket” now offers unlimited access to the Internet for a monthly charge of € 14.95. And third, Vodafone has launched a new mobile data tariff option for iPad users that want to access the Internet with their device in another country.