The clash is inevitable, despite Apple (NSDQ: AAPL) pulling off some cushy deals with operators (as only Apple can): T-Mobile International head Hamid Akhavan told Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung in an interview that its parent Deutsche Telekom (NYSE: DT) will “not be happy” if Nokia’s (NYSE: NOK) mobile content and apps brand Ovi enters the market with its own product offerings, which of course it already has.

“Nokia has to sell its mobile phones and we assume that the company will want to continue its successful partnership with T-Mobile,’” Akhavan said. For now, the warning sounds benign…also, the cat is out of the bag for operators. For years they sucked with providing poor handset choices (especially true in U.S.). Now, Nokia is already heavily invested in being a direct consumer brand, more than any other handset company…