iPhone was originally launched through an exclusive deal with O2. After two years of O2’s monopoly, Orange has recently started selling iPhone. Moreover, Vodafone has also announced to offer iPhone by early next year. Tesco is hopeful to attract new customers by bringing iPhone to its stores before Christmas, beating Vodafone, which would be able to sell iPhone not before early next year.

“It is a bit of a coup to get this before the other operators,” Tesco Mobile said.

Tesco did not reveal its pricing plans yet, but hinted that it would offer the sought-after handsets at lower price compared to the competitors.

A Tesco Mobile spokesperson commented: “We are hoping to bring out something that is a little bit different to what is already out there in the market, and would like to bring some Tesco value to the iPhone.”

Analysts believe that Tesco would attract bargain hunters who wanted to get a cheaper deal with Orange, but were disappointed as Orange’s pricing plans were remarkably similar to the tariffs offered by O2.

Tesco believes they can offer better customer experience by offering simple, rounded monthly tariffs (£30, 40, £50) with unlimited texts, minutes and data, compared to complex tariffs, long-term contracts and hidden costs by other competitors.

Analysts believe that the hidden winner from Tesco’s deal is O2 as Tesco Mobile is a mobile virtual network operator (MVNO) of O2. This would increase O2’s top line revenue.