Wow, Apple sure is busy on the European front these days. There’s been a lot (now that’s an understatement) of talk about which of the major European wireless players will get their chance to hock the iPhone exclusivly. Now we’re hearing that the Italian carrier TIM (Telecom Italia Mobile) may be getting courted by Apple’s people to carry the iPhone in Italy.

Now, this is as speculative as rumors get, so don’t get your spaghetti all in a knot just yet. It’s not like TIM execs have even confirmed the negotiation process like European counterpart T-Mobile Germany has.

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Here we go again. More rumors in the “deal or no deal” madness that has surrounded the European carrier indicate that Orange has already signed, or is very close to signing, an exclusivity deal with Apple for iPhone distribution. Unnamed sources are saying that the France Telecom subsidiary Orange has already put together a marketing plan for the iPhone.

The deal involves a revenue kickback to Apple and an initial handset order for 50,000 iPhones, slated for a November launch. Apple is likely to sign multiple exclusivity contracts with carriers across the EU. With T-Mobile, O2, Vodafone all vying for a chance at iPhone greatness - and all covering different territories - it might be in Apple’s best interest to strike different deals for different countries.

We expect a mid-Q4 launch of the European iPhone, in time for the holiday shopping season - with major European countries scheduled to get the iPhone first. Of course, this is all speculation, so we’ll just have to wait and see which carriers come out with the iPhone. Hopefully, sooner than later.

In contradiction to what we thought was a sure thing, there are reports that O2 denies having inked any contract with Apple for an exclusive deal to distribute the iPhone in the UK. An O2 spokesperson denied the rumored deal between the two companies, and refused to comment on ongoing negotiations.

We know we told you that O2 would be getting top honors in the competition to provide the iPhone to Brits, but it seems that even “official” reports from TimesOnline.uk may be in doubt until Apple has the final say. These “reports” are looking more like “rumors” these days.

What’s going on here? Is O2 playing coy on its iPhone exclusivity contract with Apple? Did Apple tell them to keep quiet? Is the TimesOnline.uk “report” more like a rumor? Who knows. We’ll just have to wait and see (we thought we could stop saying that already, what with the iPhone already launched in the US - oh well).

[Via: TUAW]