All the major UK operators - EE (Orange and T-Mobile), Vodafone, O2 and Three - have also confirmed that they will be offering the phones on a contract basis.
Vodafone said the phones will be available to consumers on its Vodafone Red 4G-ready plans, which come with up to 12GB of data, unlimited calls and texts and a choice of Sky Sports Mobile TV or Spotify Premium included. Meanwhile, O2 said it would sell iPhone 5S and 5C on future-proof O2 Refresh tariffs.
Handset pricing has not yet been announced by any of the operators.
Commenting on the news, Francis Sideco, director for consumer electronics and communications technologies at analyst firm IHS, said that the arrival of the 5C will not spur a major increase in iPhone sales in the second half of 2013 compared to previous expectations.
"At an unsubsidised cost of $549, the iPhone 5c remains at the same price point as the existing mid-range model in Apple's smartphone line, the iPhone 4S," said Sideco.
"If Apple had hit a $350 to $400 unsubsidised price range for the iPhone 5c, as some had speculated, the company might have had a chance to expand its smartphone shipments beyond what we originally expected in the second half. Even at a subsidised price of $99 with a two-year contract, the 5c will not spur sales because it does not materially expand Apple's addressable market past the level we had already taken into account."
Roberta Cozza, analyst at Gartner, added that Apple's bottom line is based on margins more than market share for market share sake.
"The 5C price limits the volume expansion in emerging markets, yes, but will make more of an impact on mature markets - Apple is offering more choice to users interested in the iPhone and gives them the possibility of buying a lower priced brand new device instead of settling for an old model.
"At the same time Apple is keeping good margins with the 5C that is less expansive to manufacture, rather than keeping a discounted 5 which would have also looked too similar to the new 5S. "
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