iPhone coming to Telstra, possibly in firmware 2.0 form

Telstra boss Sol Trujillo's total non-denial late last year that the iPhone would eventually be hitting his network left little doubt in our minds that Aussies' iPhone-less days were numbered, but in case we needed any more evidence to close the case, we think we have it here. Turns out that Telstra has put out feelers to hire a business analyst for an "iPhone search application" on a 2 to 3 month contract, and since we figure there aren't going to be a whole heck of a lot of non-Telstra users (or non-Australians, for that matter) that give two flips about such an app, it can only mean that the carrier will be bringing some iPhone love to its domestic airwaves in the not-too-distant future. The only real question here is whether the "application" in question is a web app or a native one -- you know, the kind that the SDK and firmware 2.0 would be required to support. Guess we'll know soon enough.

[Via 9 to 5 Mac, thanks Chris]

[(Unverified) Posted Mar 13th 2008 1:24PM]

I have to wonder if Telstra will be a launch customer for a 3G iPhone. Telstra's network is primarily HSDPA 850. Their GSM network only exists in cities. Telstra has been making a big deal about its NextG (HSDPA 850) network's speed and extensive coverage. They'd be put in tough spot to have to say the iPhone only works on our GSM network, not the network we've been trumpeting as the greatest thing since indoor plubming. Telstra also operates a join UMTS 2100 network with 3. One could go out on a limb and say it only makes sense for Telstra to be a launch customer for a quadband GSM + triband HSDPA iPhone. Time will tell as always.

[(Unverified) Posted Mar 14th 2008 2:46AM]

Sorry dude but telstra GSM has much better coverage than just cities. Its Telstra 3G and UTMS that is restricted to cities, GSM covers over 90% of Australias population. I'd know, I do a lot of traveling and get Telstra reception everywhere. Infact, i get Telstra reception everywhere on my iPhone.

[(Unverified) Posted Mar 13th 2008 9:06PM]

Oh please, don't put the Telstra logo on that device. How horribly wrong. lol