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While Vodaphone already had a deal to sell the iPhone in Italy, it looks like another carrier in the same country, Telecom Italia, will also be offering it. Telecom Italia, or TIM, has issued a short statement to the public that they will be offering the iPhone in Italy later this year (which, as always could mean tomorrow). This follows a recent report of consternation by Italia 3, another carrier in Italy.

This is notable because Apple does not typically offer the iPhone to multiple carriers in one country (though they do occasionally offer it to multiple retailers under a single service). Either they are interested to see what competing wireless carriers do to face off, or they may have different types of agreements with each party. We won’t know the specifics until at least next week, but it looks like there will be some Italian announcement either Monday or Tuesday (depending on where you live).

Update:
As Electronista points out, Italian law forbids phone contracts for lasting longer than nine months. This has made pre-paid cell phone contracts much more popular in Italy and might imply that the iPhone will also operate this way. Also, it seems logical that multiple carriers might be more ideal in this “prepaid plan” environment.

[Via Engadget Mobile]