Tesco Mobile will offer contracts for Apple’s iPhone from Monday, December 14.

The BBC reports that the supermarket giant is launching its iPhone contract in the run up to Christmas. By offering UK customers a shorter 12-month contract compared to the 24-month contracts of competitors such as the Orange iPhone and O2, the Tesco iPhone will allow customers the advantage of upgrading to the latest handset and services sooner.

However, even the lowest £20 monthly tariff offered by Tesco on its 12-month contract still requires customers to purchase an iPhone handset, which can cost upwards of £222 even for the most basic 8GB 3G model. Both O2 and Orange offer free handsets to customers as part of their 24-month contracts, when the monthly price is high enough.

As with competing iPhone and smartphone offerings, the Tesco iPhone provides users with unlimited wi-fi web access, fueling the rapid expansion of the mobile web and web services designed for people on the go – such as the recent barcode addition to Google Maps.