Apple has announced that O2 will be the exclusive UK carrier for the iPhone. The iPhone will hit the UK high street on November 9th. It will come in a single model (8GB), priced at £269 (Nearly £70 more than in the US) and the tariffs start at £35 per month on an 18 month contract, including unlimited data usage.

The iPhone does not have 3G capability, but uses EDGE technology. As the O2 EDGE network covers only about 30% of the UK at the moment, the subscription will also include free access to the 7,500 wi-fi access points around the country that are part of The Cloud network.

“We’re thrilled to be partnering with O2 to offer our revolutionary iPhone to UK customers”, said Steve Jobs, Apple’s CEO. “US iPhone customer satisfaction is off the charts, and we can’t wait to let UK customers get their hands on it and learn what they think of it”.

“Our strategy at O2 is to bring our customers the best products and experiences”, said Matthew Key, CEO, O2 UK. “The iPhone is a breakthrough that is changing the way people use their mobiles forever, and we’re thrilled to have it exclusively for O2 customers in the UK”.

Internal O2 research is said to have found that 80% of O2’s high value customers want and iPhone. In addition, up to 40% of customers at rival operators said they would be willing to switch operator networks to get an iPhone.

O2 is pitching the iPhone as a 3-in-1 device: “iPhone combines three amazing products – a revolutionary mobile phone, a widescreen iPod with touch controls, and a breakthrough internet communications device with the best applications ever on a mobile phone for email, web browsing, maps and searching – into one small and lightweight handheld device.” (from the O2 website)

O2 is understood to have agreed a margin on the retail price but will return to Apple as much as 40% of any revenues it makes from customers’ use of the device. One other operator described the deal as “madly money-losing”. (Article in UK newspaper the Guardian).

Out of O2’s share also comes a commission and further revenue share with Carphone Warehouse, which is understood to have secured the right to be the sole independent retailer of the device on behalf of O2. The iPhone will also be sold at shops owned by O2 and Apple.

Additional announcements are expected later this week, with strong rumors that Orange will be selling the iPhone in France, and T-Mobile in Germany.

In an interesting twist, the internet was flooded last week with images of an ad that supposedly T-Mobile will be using at launch. However, if true, the German iPhone will be very different from UK iPhone. The T-Mobile version would be 16GB model (the UK version is 8GB), it will be have 3G HSDPA capability (the UK model is EDGE, a slower technology), and will be priced at €499 (about £350).

Full press release HERE.