The much sought-after 3G iPhone and Blackberry may soon be available in the state-owned Bharat Sanchar Nigam (BSNL) network.

BSNL, the country’s largest telecom service provider, is in talks with Apple and BlackBerry to launch the services in India in its own network. According to BSNL executives, talks with BlackBerry are at an advanced stage and this handset is likely to be available to BSNL’s customers by the year-end.

On the other hand, subscribers on the PSU’s networks may have to wait longer to access the 3G iPhone as talks with Apple are still lingering in preliminary stage, BSNL executives added.

If BSNL were to tie up with Apple, the state owned telco would be the third player after Airtel and Vodafone to offer 3G iPhone in India. However, BSNL will be the first player in the Indian market to offer 3G service on the iPhone.

Airtel and Vodafone will only have 3G spectrum if they bag these radio frequencies in the upcoming auctions. The government has already granted BSNL 3G radio frequencies and the telco is expected to launch high-end services on its 3G network early next year.

“We are in talks with Apple to launch 3G iPhone in our network since we will be the first ones to launch the 3G services here. We are also awaiting the launch of BlackBerry in our network by end of this year. By then the security issues surrounding it will be hopefully resolved,” said BSNL CMD Kuldeep Goyal.

With the launch of 3G iPhone and Blackberry on BSNL network, the industry is also expecting a price cut, especially considering that the PSU is considered as the service provider catering to common man.