O2 will be the exclusive carrier of the Palm Pre in the United Kingdom, it announced on Tuesday.
The operator already has United Kingdom exclusivity for the iPhone. It is also set to bring out an Android phone soon, in the shape of the Samsung i7500, but that may not be an exclusive release.
"We are fast becoming the home of the smartphone with the addition of the hotly anticipated Palm Pre to our already extensive portfolio," Telefonica Europe chief executive Matthew Key said in a statement. "Our customers will be the first outside of North America to experience one of the most successful mobile devices of the year."
The phone was launched in North America at the start of June, and today's Europe-wide exclusivity contract with O2 parent Telefonica marks the first foray for the Pre into the rest of the world.
O2's pricing for the Pre has not been revealed, nor has the handset's precise release date. The operator will only say the Pre will be out before Christmas.
The Palm Pre is a crucial handset for the manufacturer, as it is the first to use its new webOS operating system, Palm's first new OS since 2002. The phone is notable for its multi-tasking ability, which allows applications to run concurrently.
Palm is hoping to attract developers with the fact that webOS applications use standard web standards, such as HTML and CSS.
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