The UK’s largest carrier O2 has beaten rivals Vodafone (NYSE: VOD) and Orange to win the deal to exclusively carry the Palm (NSDQ: PALM) Pre, unnamed sources told the Guardian.co.uk. It’s good news for O2, which currently stocks the iPhone exclusively, but will reportedly see that deal phased out as Apple (NSDQ: AAPL) looks to open up distribution of the cellphone to other carriers.

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The iPhone has been particularly good to O2, where it has helped attract valuable contract customers and reduce churn, no small thing in one of Europe’s most competitive mobile markets. It’s unknown at this point whether the deal with O2, which is owned by Spanish telecoms giant Telefonica (NYSE: TEF), will extend to the group’s other units. Spanish press reports in March said Telefonica had won the Pre deal to exclusively distribute the device in the UK, Spain and Latin America.

Palm, meanwhile, needs all the distribution deals it can get, as critics have harped that so far, it has only announced distribution in the US with number three carrier Sprint (NYSE: S), and in Canada with the country’s second largest carrier Bell Mobility. The Guardian.co.uk says that the Pre will hit the UK in time for the holiday season.