iPhone in Europe: Has Apple picked a partner?

Apple has chosen O2, Orange and T-Mobile as its European launch partners for the iPhone after wrangling a revenue-sharing agreement, according to the Financial Times.

The paper said the iPhone contract was signed by Orange in France, T-Mobile in Germany and O2 in the UK.

The four companies are set to announce their partnership by the end of the month, the report said. The deals would require the carriers to share 10 per cent of all revenue from voice and data services over the iPhone with Apple, according to the report. Apple has a revenue-sharing agreement in place with AT&T, the exclusive iPhone carrier in the US.

No new details surfaced in the report about the type of iPhone that would hit Europe but most industry observers think Apple has a 3G model in mind.

Apple has said it wants to launch the iPhone in Europe by the end of this year. Tim Cook, the company's chief operating officer, mentioned Apple wants to start in Europe with "a few major countries" - and France, Germany, and the UK probably fall into that category.

Tom Krazit writes for CNET News.com