Orange has agreed a deal with Apple to become the second operator after O2 to offer the iPhone in the UK.

Multinational phone operator Orange has secured a deal with Apple to sell the popular iPhones in the UK later this year.

The agreement ends O2’s exclusive deal with Apple to sell the iPhones in the UK, which had been in place since 2007. O2 will however continue to sell the phones online and in branches nationwide.

Orange’s new agreement with Apple means that the phone operator will offer the iPhone in 28 countries and territories.

The iPhone will be available for purchase through all Orange direct channels including Orange shops, Orange webshop and Orange telesales channels as well as selected high street partners.

Neither the date it will be released nor the price has been specified.

Apple’s latest deal means that the handset is now only exclusively offered on one network in the US and Germany.

Since its launch in 2007, more than one million iPhone handsets have been bought in the UK, according to O2.