Swedish operator TeliaSonera doesn't seem to have been sure that its iPhone 3G launch would attract enough people. It planned to hire 150 extras to stand in line "to create a better atmosphere and excitement", according to an e-mail message obtained by MacWorld Sweden.
The event company that sent the message confirmed its content as genuine in an interview with the magazine.
"We sent out an e-mail on Wednesday, but the client decided to cancel at the last minute," said Pilar Baettig, human resources assistant at PS Communication.
Under the title "Urgent: Swedish launch of a new design product - Stockholm, Gothenburg, Malm
TeliaSonera denies it planned to use extras to bulk up waiting lines for the iPhone, but had contacted an event company regarding something else, according to a spokeswoman.
In the end the operator needn't have worried. Swedish Apple fans have been waiting since the announcement of the iPhone on Jan. 9 last year, and didn't want to wait any longer. There were 400 people standing in line outside Telia's flagship store in Stockholm when it opened at midnight between Thursday and Friday, and another 200 people were queuing in Gothenburg and Malm
The company's original plan was to close its stores at 3 a.m., but in the end the Stockholm store closed at 5.15 a.m. "We didn't want anyone to leave empty handed," said H
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