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An Apple spokesperson confirmed reports that T-Mobile Germany, one of the largest cellular service providers in that country, is offering 8GB iPhone models for the price of 99 euros, down from the normal price of 399 euros. However, customers can only get this price when they sign up for two years of T-Mobile’s top-of-the-line “Complete XL” service plan before June 30.
The Complete XL plan costs 89 euros a month, compared with the base plan at 49 euros a month. That means to get the 99 euro iPhone, a customer will end up paying 960 euros more over the two years of the contract.
The base plan offers only 100 minutes and 40 SMS messages per month, though; the base U.S. plan from AT&T allows 450 minutes and 200 SMS messages for $59.99 per month.
The timing of this promotion, as expectations for a 3G version of the iPhone ramp up, has led some to suspect Apple is trying to get rid of current models. However, pricing on the 16GB model in Germany remains at 499 euros, and this promotion is, according to an Apple representative, solely T-Mobile’s doing. And some analysts, such as Piper Jaffray’s Gene Munster, had previously noted what they saw as shortages of iPhones in the U.S. channel prior to this.