UK mobile phone retailer Phones4U have pulled off a bit of a coup by securing sole distribution rights to the new Blackberry Storm, RIM's first touchscreen smartphone that's currently being heavily advertised on the TV. The Storm breaks new ground for RIM in that its features are similar to other smartphones, and so rather than being pitched solely as a phone for business, it's also being pitched to consumers who like their smartphone to have multimedia features as well as enterprise-level productivity tools.

In many ways, then, the Storm can be thought of as an iPhone for business. It's undoubtedly classy, and with all the gizmos you'd expect from a smartphone, such as GPS, 3.2 megapixel camera, touchscreen, etc., combined with RIM's legendary email features that the BlackBerry range is infamous for, it should go do well with professionals.

Given that Carphone Warehouse has exclusive distribution rights in the UK to the iPhone (aside from O2 shops), it makes sense that Phones4U would want a competing exclusivity deal for an iPhone competitor. Of all the phones that can make that claim at the moment, the Storm is the one they've chosen.

This does present a cause for concern, though. There seems to be a trend in the UK market towards locking customers into networks and now retailers for certain high profile phones. O2 has the iPhone, for example, which is sold exclusively through Carphone Warehouse. If you have a beef with either company, you won't be getting an iPhone, no matter how badly you want one.

Similarly, the Blackberry Storm is exclusive to Vodafone and Phones4U, while the new Google Android phone is exclusive to T-Mobile.

Indeed, the only reason I haven't bought a G1 is because it's being sold through T-Mobile, who refuse to sell it with modem access for anything less than £40 a month, no matter if I want to pay for part of it (or even all of it!) up front. Given that my current tariff for my Nokia E90 is £30, which includes all you can eat data transfers plus the ability to use the E90 as a modem, I don't see why I should pay an extra £30 a month for the same service for a different phone.

However, no-one else sells the G1. Result: I have no Google Android phone!

Fortunately, this should be jsut a passing fad. There's only one iPhone, one Android phone and touchscreen Blackberry phone now, so it's only natural the operators and retailers want to have them exclusively. Once more Android phones and touchscreen Blackberries come on the market, consumer choice will reign again, as other operators pick them up (the iPhone, of course, may always remain tied to one operator, as that's just Apple's way).

In the meantime, if you want a Blackberry Storm, head on over to Phones4U,who plan on selling it (exclusively, remember!) very very soon.