ROME and SAN FRANCISCO, June 9 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Telecom ItaliaMobile (TIM) and Apple(R) today announced that the highly anticipatediPhone(TM) 3G will be available to customers in Italy on July 11. iPhone 3Gcombines all the revolutionary features of iPhone with 3G networking that istwice as fast* as the first generation iPhone, built-in GPS for expandedlocation based mobile services, and iPhone 2.0 software which includes supportfor Microsoft Exchange ActiveSync and runs the hundreds of third partyapplications already built with the recently released iPhone SDK.

'We are committed to providing the best mobile experience for ourcustomers. iPhone 3G delivers this and more,' said Luca Luciani, head ofTelecom Italia Domestic Mobile Services. 'We believe that iPhone 3G is afurther step toward strengthening our leadership in the mobile Internet.'

'We're thrilled to be working with Italy's number one carrier to bringiPhone 3G to Telecom Italia's 36 million customers,' said Tim Cook, Apple'sCOO. 'We can't wait to introduce consumers in Italy to the most revolutionarymobile device on the planet.'

TIM will be selling the 8GB and 16GB models of iPhone 3G to prepaid andcontract customers. TIM will also be selling iPhone 3G with the 'TuttoCompreso' package tailored to meet customers' needs.

* Based on 3G and EDGE testing. Actual speeds vary by site conditions.

Headline figures for the Telecom Italia Group include: around 36 millionmobile lines supplied in Italy and 32.5 million in Brazil; around 22 millionfixed lines; 7.7 million broadband clients in Italy and 2.5 million in Germanyand Holland. Telecom Italia is a major enterprise generating change andinnovation by leveraging tried and tested assets. As well as leading in itshome market, Telecom Italia has built up a targeted international presence inmarkets that offer significant growth prospects (Latin America) and inhigh-growth technology markets (broadband).

Apple ignited the personal computer revolution in the 1970s with the AppleII and reinvented the personal computer in the 1980s with the Macintosh.Today, Apple continues to lead the industry in innovation with its award-winning computers, OS X operating system and iLife and professionalapplications. Apple is also spearheading the digital media revolution with itsiPod portable music and video players and iTunes online store, and has enteredthe mobile phone market with its revolutionary iPhone.

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(C) 2008 Apple Inc. All rights reserved. Apple, the Apple logo, Mac, MacOS, Macintosh and iPhone are trademarks of Apple. Other company and productnames may be trademarks of their respective owners.

SOURCE Apple