MANILA, Philippines -- The recent announcement that Apple's iPhone will soon be carried by a local operator could be welcome news for both existing users and application developers.

Globe Telecom said it has signed an agreement with Apple to carry the iPhone along with Singapore's Singtel, India's Bharti Airtel and Australia's Optus. Not much details, however, have been revealed since.

Locally, there are already users of the iPhone, which has been sold unofficially in retail shops but can nonetheless run using either Globe or rival operator Smart's service.

One call center executive who requested anonymity and who has been using an iPhone for more than a month now, believes local operator support will allow users to maximize the iPhone's features, especially Web browsing.

Like in the case of the Blackberry or high-end Nokia handsets, he expects Globe to offer the iPhone via postpaid subscription.

"It's not much of a deal breaker," he said, when asked whether Globe's announcement could affect the "gray" retail market for the iPhone. "The only thing going against the iPhone right now is that you can only browse the Web via GPRS, which means your usage is still based on kilobytes consumed."

"You can maximize the iPhone's features if you have unlimited use plans, for example," he added.

On the availability of applications on the iPhone, he believes Globe's announcement can boost developer support for Apple's device.

"What this could mean is that since Globe can create a community through available applications, there will be a clearer picture of how many iPhone users there really are in the country," the executive said.

The announcement could mean good news for companies like Novare, which has been developing applications for the iPhone since last year. Novare, based in Hong Kong but runs its development team in Manila, also creates similar business applications for the Blackberry handheld.

The benefit for developers, however, could extend beyond local operators.

"In short, it does not really matter," said William Yu, senior technical manager for Novare, via text message when asked for comment.

According to him, Apple plans to introduce an "appstore" similar to iTunes, which will allow developers to sell their application regardless of local carrier support.

"This is actually good (for Novare). But let's wait for Apple's launch," he said.