iPhone global expansion continues in Germany

Apple’s global wireless strategy plunged full speed ahead with today’s announcement that T-Mobile International will be the exclusive operator partner for the iPhone in Germany, set to launch on Nov. 9.

Apple CEO Steve Jobs made the announcement this morning in Berlin, after revealing the O2/Apple partnership in London the day before. While the German announcement came as little surprise, the deals of the partnership might. Similar to Britain’s deal, the phone will retail for €399 (U.S. $557), but a monthly pricing plan has not yet been revealed. The companies also did not disclose the revenue share terms of the partnership or how long the exclusive nature of it would last.

One thing T-Mobile did want to make clear is that, with more than 20,000 global hotspots, it is the biggest provider of Wi-Fi in the world. Of these global hotspots, 8,600 are in Germany alone. Hoping to squelch slow connection complaints before they even start in Germany, T-Mobile said Wi-Fi users can get download speeds of 11 Mb/s as compared to the 220 kb/s over the phone’s EDGE network.

The phone, which requires a two-year contract with T-Mobile, will be available exclusively from Deutsche Telekom’s Telekom stores and from T-Mobile’s online store.

As for the next stop on Jobs’ wireless tour abroad, most predict he will soon make a stop in Paris to announce an exclusive partnership between Apple and wireless provider Orange France.