The iPhone’s Tholian Web of coverage
In the last few days Apple has added iPhone carriers in two more countries: Movistar in Spain, and SoftBank in Japan.
When I first compiled this list, 8 countries had iTunes stores but lacked iPhone carriers. Now, only Luxembourg and the Netherlands do.
It’s been remarkable to see the gaps filled in as inexorably as the Tholian Web. If you haven’t seen that Star Trek episode, while the Enterprise and its crew are immobilized with Captain Kirk caught in an space-time drift, the Tholians, an alien race, patiently begin weaving a web around the Enterprise to trap them forever.
Apple seems to be weaving a global web now to press their advantage while their competitors seem relatively immobilized by the iPhone’s success and superiority. In the Star Trek episode, the Enterprise and Kirk escape just in time. We’ll see how things fare with the iPhone, but the web is almost complete.
Here’s the updated list of countries, carriers, and whether those countries already have iTunes Stores:
| Country | Carrier | Already has iTunes Store? |
|---|---|---|
| Argentina | Claro | no |
| Australia | Optus & Vodafone | Yes |
| Austria | One & T-Mobile | Yes |
| Belgium | Mobistar | Yes |
| Brazil | Claro | no |
| Canada | Rogers | Yes |
| Chile | Claro | no |
| Colombia | Comcel | no |
| Czech Republic | Vodafone | no |
| Denmark | TeliaSonera | Yes |
| Dominican Republic | Claro & Orange | no |
| Ecuador | Porta | no |
| Egypt | Mobinil & Vodafone | no |
| El Salvador | Claro | no |
| Estonia | TeliaSonera | no |
| Finland | TeliaSonera | Yes |
| France | Orange | Yes |
| Germany | T-Mobile | Yes |
| Greece | Vodafone | Yes |
| Guatemala | Claro | no |
| Honduras | Claro | no |
| Hong Kong | Hutchison | no |
| India | Bharti Airtel & Vodafone | no |
| Ireland | O2 | Yes |
| Italy | Telecom Italia & Vodafone | Yes |
| Jamaica | Claro & MiPhone | no |
| Jordan | Orange | no |
| Japan | SoftBank | Yes |
| Latvia | TeliaSonera | no |
| Lithuania | TeliaSonera | no |
| Luxembourg | - | Yes |
| Macau | Hutchison | no |
| Mexico | Telcel | no |
| Netherlands | - | Yes |
| New Zealand | Vodafone | Yes |
| Nicaragua | Claro | no |
| Norway | TeliaSonera | Yes |
| Paraguay | Claro | no |
| Peru | Claro | no |
| Philippines | Globe Telecom | no |
| Poland | Orange | no |
| Portugal | Optimus & Vodafone | Yes |
| Puerto Rico | Claro | no |
| Romania | Orange | no |
| Singapore | SingTel Mobile | no |
| Slovakia | Orange | no |
| South Africa | Vodacom | no |
| Spain | Movistar | Yes |
| Sweden | TeliaSonera | Yes |
| Switzerland | Orange | Yes |
| Turkey | Vodafone | no |
| UK | O2 | Yes |
| Uruguay | Claro | no |
| USA | AT&T | Yes |
Missing:
Country/Region: Hong Kong and Macau
Carrier: 3
Already has iTunes store: no
Thanks, I had them in an earlier list, but inadvertently skipped them. They’re in there now.
One of the things I’m somewhat curious about–and I’m hoping this will fall back into Mac OS X–is “international support.”
Cruising your list, a few jump out at me: Czech Republic, India, and Egypt. I don’t have my copy of Leopard handy, but I’m pretty sure there’s no Czech. India officially supports English, so Apple may skip out on providing Hindi support. I don’t obviously see any support for Arabic.