iLounge

Apple is in talks with two Indian carriers to offer the upcoming CDMA variant of the iPhone in the country, according to a new report. Citing people familiar with the matter, the Wall Street Journal reports that Apple is in negotiations with Reliance Communications and Tata Teleservices, both of which operate networks based on CDMA technology. “Tata has been in talks with them [Apple] for four to five months now,” said one of the people familiar with the negotiations, noting that it is unclear when a launch might take place. The iPhone is currently available in India through the GSM carriers Bharti AirTel and Vodafone; while India currently has roughly 670 million wireless subscribers, only 20% or so use CDMA phones. A report from last week indicated that Apple was planning to start mass production of a CDMA-compliant iPhone, which is expected to launch in the U.S. on Verizon Wireless early next year.