TIM Vice President Confirms 3G iPhone Launch In Italy Next Month

In an interview with Electronic Weekly's David Manners, Luigi Licciardi, executive vice president for technology and operations at Telecom Italia Mobile (TIM), confirmed suspicions that TIM will be offering a 3G iPhone in Italy. Surprisingly, he also offered a time frame for the launch, something that has been left entirely up to speculation until now.

“We will be selling an iPhone with 3G capability next month”, Luigi Licciardi, executive vice president for technology and operations at TIM told me yesterday evening on a bus taking us out into the desert for dinner following the first day of the International Electronics Forum 2008 in Dubai.

The time mentioned coincides with WWDC, one suspected date for the launch of the new iPhone.

In contrast, Mr. Manners's phone conversation with a Vodafone representative was significantly less straightforward. When he asked if the iPhone they would soon be launching would be the 3G device, the spokesperson would not confirm if the device would be the old model or the 3G model. Their only response was that "It is an iPhone device."

Apple responded similarly to his questions.

[Electronics Weekly via MacRumors]