While the Apple iPhone sports the Safari browser, that’s not stopping Opera Software from showing off how its Opera Mini performs on the iPhone at 2010 Mobile World Congress (MWC) in Barcelona next week.  

An Opera spokesman said the company has not submitted Opera Mini to Apple for inclusion in the App Store and could not confirm when it would do so. In the past, Apple has rejected browsers that compete with the iPhone’s native Safari browser, claiming the technology duplicates Apple’s proprietary UI.

Meanwhile, the Norwegian company says its compression technology results in significantly faster Web page loading and reduces data surcharges.

“We are thrilled to offer journalists and partners an exclusive preview of Opera Mini for iPhone during the year’s biggest mobile event,” said Jon von Tetzchner, co-founder, Opera Software, in a statement. “This is a unique opportunity to introduce the fast, feature-rich Opera Mini experience for the iPhone and to showcase our latest beta releases of Opera Mobile and Opera Mini on other platforms and devices. Opera’s mission is to bring the Web to the world, and by making Opera Mini available on yet another platform, we are one step closer.”

Visitors to Opera’s exhibit at MWC will be able to see various Opera-powered devices, including Android, Windows Mobile and Symbian.