Vodafone has announced it has signed an agreement with Apple to bring the iPhone to New Zealand.
New Zealand was listed alongside nine other countries in an announcement of the deal to the UK stock exchange today.
Vodafone New Zealand said in a statement that it had no specific information to add to the announcement.
The announcement did not include dates for the rollout. It said simply: "Later this year, Vodafone customers in Australia, the Czech Republic, Egypt, Greece, Italy, India, Portugal, New Zealand, South Africa and Turkey will be able to purchase the iPhone for use on the Vodafone network."
The announcement is a further signal that Apple is close to delivering a 3G version of its device.
In July last year, Reuters reported Vodafone CEO Arun Sarin saying the iPhone was "clearly a good, software-driven device, but we're concerned about wideband area coverage so that 3G [third-generation] or HSDPA connectivity with the iPhone is something that we look forward to." Sarin said every product has a price and Vodafone had to be conscious of what it is doing for our customers and shareholders.