Apple Inc.'s iPhone goes on sale in America Friday with AT&T as its exclusive supplier, leaving European investors to speculate if Vodafone will partner with Apple to be the multimedia mobile phone's only supplier in Europe.

Rumors that Vodafone would be Europe's exclusive iPhone spread like wildfire after a Dutch magazine, Bright, printed an article on its website under the headline "iPhone in Europa via Vodafone." Citing unnamed sources from Vodafone, the article claimed that ongoing talks had stalled over guaranteed sales of the iPhone, something Apple is supposedly determined to obtain.

"There's obviously plenty of reports," Vodafone told Forbes.com, "but we don't have any comment on market speculation." Apple refused to comment.

Investors seem certain of the deal sending shares in the British company surging to a five-year high on Thursday. Shares in the network operator hit an early high of 168.5 pence (3.38 U.S. dollars) before settling down to 167.1 pence (3.34 dollars) on Thursday afternoon, reflecting an overall increase of 3.3 pence (6 cents), or 2 percent.

France Telecom subsidiary Orange has been suggested as a possible partner, but Vodafone is apparently the preferred choice.

Vodafone is the world's largest mobile phone comopany with latest annual sales of more than ￡31 billion (62 billion dollars). It also has strong stakes in other companies, such as a 44 percent holding in the French operator SFR. Apple would be interested in a market leader with a wide reach, and Vodafone has nearly 200 million customers spanning 26 countries.

The iPhone is slated to appear in Europe at the end of 2007.