[UPDATE: For the test results, read iPhone on XT ... it's a fail]

Sure, Vodafone managed to get Telecom’ XT launch date bumped from May 13 May 29.

But Keallhauled has procured:

1) an XT SIM card and

2) an unlocked iPhone, bought from Vodafone.

So let’s have a May 13 launch after all, at least at NBR Towers.

We’ll be trying to mate the two pieces of technology around 9am; check in around 10am for a video.

The whole stunt is possible because Telecom will not only be selling cellphones for XT, but SIM card-only deals, too.

A spokeswoman for the company said that after you’ve bought your XT SIM card from your friendly neighbourhood Telecom dealer, it’s none of the telco’s business what device you insert it into.

So you could choose, for example, to put your XT SIM card into an iPhone bought from Vodafone (without contract, $979 for the 8GB model, or $1129 for the 16GB). Or, in fact, any multi-band handset bought from a Vodafone dealer (as long as it supports XT’s 850MHz band), as the carrier no longer locks any SIM card to its network.

Of course, it would be preferable to buy an iPhone straight from Telecom, since any handset tied to a plan costs a lot less up front (Vodafone’s on-contract iPhones start from $199 on a 24-month, $130/month plan and $399 on a 24-month, $80/month plan).

Vodafone does not, in fact, have an exclusive agency for iPhone here.

There is nothing to stop Apple appointing more than one telco to sell its phone here. In Australia it has three carriers, and in general Apple prefers a competitive situation - which naturally lends itself to keener data deals and more iPhones shifted, and more AppStore apps downloaded.

And certainly, Telecom boss Paul Reynolds knows - who has a Mac and PC in his office, but always uses the Mac - makes little secret of his handset preference.

“I’m a Mac man,” said Dr Reynolds, when I asked him what cellphones he’s used on XT, before moving onto a diplomatic answer name-checking other brands he’s road-tested in an official capacity.

Vodafoners impolitely suggest that Apple is not yet sold on XT. Neither Telecom nor Apple will comment.

So anyhow: I already know that my XT SIM card meets Vodafone iPhone stunt will work in theory, because Gen-i boss Chris Quin has been totting just such an arrangement for some time.

I note that Gen-i clients will make up a good proportion of the hundreds who’ll mob Auckland’s Town Hall for XT’s launch party tonight (which had been going to feature XT’s official switch on at 6.30pm; not sure what they’ll do about that now).

That’s a smart move. At Telecom’s results briefing on Friday, Dr Reynolds cautioned investors not to necessarily expect any immediate bottom-line boost from XT, due to the marketing costs associated with any such launch (worse now that the Hamster will be on high rotate for two weeks longer than expected).

But do expect IP-centric XT solutions to boost Telecom’s share in the high-end mobile space, he added. Read: a hosted Unified Communications deal, launching around August in partnership with Microsoft, which will let you have one phone number, and one voice mail/email inbox that follows you wherever you go, among other IP frills.

That’s the sort of detail that makes customers willing to stay on hold for a new network - and the kind of specific lacking from NZ Comms’ 2degrees’ Monday launch announcement.