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The country adds 8 million mobile users a month, but they are slow to buy the latest Apple handset. One reason is the lack of 3G networks. But the US$715 price for the base model is putting off even long-time users of Apple products
BANGALORE - There's a simple reason that most people in India who have iPhones are sticking with an "unlocked" first-generation model bought from a U.S. source instead of one obtained for a higher price from Vodafone Essar or Bharti Airtel, which started offering the 3G version in India on Aug. 22.
"There isn't a lot of difference in India between the two generations of the iPhone because there are no 3G networks in India," said Mahadev Gupta, head of business development at StrApp Business Solutions, an IT services company in Bangalore. India is planning to auction 3G spectrum, and the first commercial deployments of 3G are expected in the first half of next year. Gupta, who bought an unlocked first-generation iPhone in November 2007, migrated in August this year to an iPhone 3G from Bharti Airtel.
"I bought an unlocked phone in 2007 because I wanted to have an iPhone by all means, and it wasn't being offered in India," he said.
Buying a legal phone, though locked to the operator, now gives him the benefits of a warranty, bug fixes, and the opportunity to download from Apple's App Store without having to use a friend's or relation's U.S. credit card, Gupta said. "I have been using this awesome, awesome 3G version [for the] past three days now, and I am totally convinced that this iPhone...