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The deal brings the iPhone to countries including Switzerland, Belgium, Austria, Slovakia, Jordan and Egypt. Orange will also start to sell the iPhone in its African territories later this year, France Telecom says.

The news comes after Apple announced a multi-country deal with rival operator Vodafone, which now sells the iPhone in <

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Vodafone in Greece, India and Australia, among other countries.

The move is bound to add further to rumours that Apple is preparing to launch a 3G handset, as the original iPhone's relatively slow GPRS and EDGE data connections were said to have deterred some operators from agreeing deals.

Some observers believe that the latest deal will increase pressure on Apple to allow multiple operators to carry the iPhone in more countries. At present, the two largest markets for the iPhone, the US and the UK, only have one official operator partner and no option to buy official, unlocked phones.

"It seems to me that Apple is building up its world-wide roll out of the 3G device. This announcement, coupled with the Vodafone and TIM announcement, also gives weight to the theory that Apple will support a multi-carrier strategy in some countries," says Gartner analyst Carolina Milanese.