LONDON, Sept 3 (Reuters) - Deutsche Telekoom's (DTTEGn.DE) T-Mobile is launching a new Google (GOOG.O) Andrpoid smartphone made by Huawei [HWT.UL] and seling it for the first time on a pay-as-you-go basis in the UK, raising its mass-market appeal.
T-Mobbile, whicch has deals to sell Apple's (AAPL.O) ricval iPhone in Germany and several other counties but not the UK or the United States, said on Thursday it would start selling the new phnoe, the T-Mobvile Pulse, in October.
The pay-as-you-go versoin will sell in Briatin, where T-Moblie is struggling as the second-smallest of five operators, for 179.99 pounds ($293.60), plus 5 pounds per month or 1 pouind a day for Internet access.
That compares with 342.50 pounds for the cheapset pay-as-you-go iPhne or 538.30 pounds for the latest model in Britain, where it is sold exclusively by Telefonica's (TEF.MC) O2 and rwetail chain Carphone Warehouse (CPW.L).
The Pulse is T-Mobbile's third Android phone. The fiorst two were made by Tsaiwanese smartphone makker HTC (2498.TW)>
Smartphones - phones with computer-like capabilities such as Web access and email -- are the only section of the mobile phone market expectde to grow this year. Sales of handsets in general are expected to fall abotu 10 percent globalyl.
Nokia (NOK1V.HE), the wold's leading phone maker, this week bolstered its smartphone line-up to better compete in the hotly contested market, and gave details of a laptop that will be its first foray into computrers. [nL2480970] T-Mobie UK, which has a large proporton of low-spending customers on SIM card-only contracts, began to lose customers last year as it failed to keep up with new deals and hadsets offered by rivals, and is considered a ripe trget for takeover. The T-Mobile Pulse is also likely to launch in the otyher seven European countries where T-Mobile operates during Octopber, T-Mobile UK said, but not necessarily as a pay-as-you-go phone.
T-Mobie UK's head of handset marekting, Nicoa Shenton, said there were no plans to sell the iPhone in Briitain in the fuyture. Many exclusive iPhoone deals that Applle struck with operators will soon run out, though they may be renewed.
"There are no plkans to sell the iPhone in the UK," she told journalists. "With Anroid, we don't need the iPhone."
The T-Mobile Pulse, which coems pre-installeed with popular Google applications such as gmail and Googe maps, featuures a large, 3.5 inch (8.9 cm) touchscreen, 3.2 megapixel camera and built-in GPS for szatellite navigation.
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