Wireless Federation

The most expected phone of the year, N96, will not be stock by O2. It is believed that operator have allocated the majority of its subsidy budget to the Apple 3G iPhone for the remainder of the financial year, leaving it unwilling to subsidise the expensive Nokia device as well. O2 is under pressure to hit its iPhone targets otherwise it may loose its exclusivity with Apple.The operator said that there is no merit in stocking the N96 if its minimum line rental offer for a free N96 is higher than rivals’. According to an insider, ‘O2 wants to challenge the argument that it is impossible to grow in the contract market without  flagship Nokia handsets in its range.’ It has been known that there is no N96 in the range because there is little profit margin on Nseries handsets. Nokia N96 likely to be avaliable on O2 at Carphone Warehouse.
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