Vodafone today announced it has signed agreements with Apple to bring the iPhone to 10 countries including India. The carrier has not confirmed when it will launch one of the most-awaited phone in the history of cellphones and has just mentioned “later this year” in the media release. 

According to reports published last month in the Indian media, Vodafone was speculated to launch the iPhone in September with the 8GB variant priced in between Rs 27,000 to Rs 28,000. However, fresh speculations point at a launch as early as next week. According to sources, the carrier might launch the iPhone in the four metros on May 15 and will bundle it with a special tariff plan.

Currently, the iPhone is available in India via the grey market and is priced between Rs 21,000 to Rs 22,500 for the 8GB version and Rs 26,000 to Rs 27,500 for the 16GB version. It is estimated that there are over 30,000 iPhones operational in India.