There are 195 countries in the world, of which, 70 countries will get the iPhone 3G, by the end of this year, including India, in September. While you rub your hands in anticipation of buying it, get this: the iPhone 3G will cost Rs 20,000 in India the costliest in the world. 

The iPhone 3G will be free in the UK as it's subsidised by O2, a service provider; it's 1 Euro (Rs 70) in Germany, again subsidised by T-mobile and costs US$ 199 (Rs 8,557) in the USA, thanks to AT&T. The phone costs US$ 350 (Rs 15,050) in Hong Kong, Singapore, Taiwan and the Philippines. It is not available in Dubai.

Cheaper iPhones from the US won't work here

For those in the dark, the iPhone is an Internet-enabled multimedia mobile phone designed and manufactured by Apple Inc. It has a multi-touch screen with a virtual keyboard, but a minimal amount of hardware input, and figured in Time magazine's Invention of the Year in 2007.   

In India, Vodafone and Airtel, will be the service providers. "The service providers like AT&T have subsidised the handset, but doing the same in Indian markets is not possible," said Harit Nagpal, Chief Marketing Officer, Vodafone.

Mandeep Bhatia, COO, Airtel added that the US could afford to sell it cheap as the billing cycle is expected to make up for the cost.

"In India that's not likely, so the initial price has to be high," said Bhatia. He also believes that getting into a contractual agreement (two years in the US) is difficult here, as people tend to default on payments and recovery is difficult.

But Bhatia pointed out that at the end of the contractual period the cost of the phone in India, would work out to be the same as the rest of the world. 

No grey market

The earlier versions of iPhones could be bought in the grey market or purchased abroad, cheaper than the official price in India. But with this version, Apple has an exclusive agreement with its service providers, which means the phone cannot be bought elsewhere and unlocked here. You have to activate it before leaving the store (for instance in the US), but the phone will work only in the US.

No loopholes

In other words, in the US, buyers will have to purchase a service contract with AT&T before leaving the store; you cannot buy it online. The phone has to be activated within 30 days or the buyer will be penalised. You cannot cancel the two-year contract with AT&T either a cancellation fee of Rs 7,525 ($175) will be charged or the phone has to be returned.