Etisalat will launch iPhone 4 Saturday September 25

Both GulfNews and Khaleej Times report this morning that U.A.E. telecommunications operator Etisalat will start selling iPhone 4 this coming Saturday, September 25.

Gulf News says that according to a spokesman for Etisalat, they’ve not unveiled any prices or packages yet but will do so “in the coming days.”

According to the same spokesman, “etisalat will be competitive towards unlocked iPhone 4s which have been available on regional markets for several weeks through diverse grey channels.”

Gulf News quotes the “official price in the US” as $199 (16GB) and $299 (32GB) but fail to make it clear to readers that that price is tied to the customer signing a two-year contract with AT&T. Telecommunications operators in the Middle East don’t subsidize handsets in the same way that is common elsewhere in the world, most notably Western Europe and North America.

We have heard that there is a chance that du, the other operator in the U.A.E., will introduce something similar with a lower purchase price and slightly higher per-month payment for a year.

Etisalat was the only carrier in the U.A.E. that launched the iPhone 3G in February 2008. In October 2009 both du and Etisalat introduced the iPhone 3GS. All official iPhones sold in the U.A.E. have been factory unlocked.

For anyone who still is unsure about what the iPhone 4 can do, read our extensive review in the upcoming October issue.