Is Vodafone really that cocky that they’d already start talking about negotiations for a deal with Apple upon the release of a 3G version? Well I guess they are as their CEO is quoted saying they would “absolutely” deal with Apple to carry the 3G version of the handset.

Apparently the biggest problem that Vodafone, and I would assume other carriers as well, have with Apple is the lopsidedness of the deal, Apple gets all the money from the sale of the handset, there can be no subsidies, Apple gets a percentage of the contracts for its iPhone. Furthermore there seems to be a pattern of Apple requiring special iPhone service plans with included unlimited data, and Apple completely controls the user side of things which means no carrier specific service can be added to the phone to help the carrier make more money.

Add on to that the fact that the WiFi iTunes store would directly compete with Vodafones new music store. Its no wonder why Vodafone wasn’t too excited to jump on the iPhone carrier bandwagon, but at least there is hope if Apple releases a 3G iPhone while the hype behind the device is still hot.

Vodafone wants to carry the 3G iPhone? [via intomobile]