iMav
The Devil's Advocate
U read it freakin right my eyes almost popped out the taklu has allowed unlocking of the fone in france .... o my freakin God .... poor orange who paid a hefty sum for exclusivity and all down the drain ....
Apple agrees to sell iPhones in France unlocked
On a previous blog at DailyTech, it was revealed that iPhones were invading France for the holiday season, after French carrier Orange struck a deal with Apple for distribution rights.
Now in a surprising twist, Apple and Orange will team up in France, and only in France, to offer the iPhone unlocked.
The move comes after Apple met a roadblock when its international policy of banning unlocking was challenged by French law. A French telecommunications law, passed in 1998 states that manufacturers must offer to unlock consumers phones for a small fee for the first sixth months after release, and for free after that, as reported via French news site Les Echoes.
The locked version of the phone will cost €399, but the unlocked version's price has not yet been announced by Apple. It may cost significantly more, though as French law mandates, Apple must agree to sell the phones unlocked at no premium after six months.
In the U.S. there are no laws that explicitly state that locking a phone to a network is illegal, though recent class action suits have accused Apple and its U.S. carrier, AT&T, of violating U.S. antitrust and warranty laws.
Apple is very much against unlocking iPhones, probably due to the fact that it makes a large cut of the phone contract, as detailed in the upcoming UK release. Apple loses this revenue when its phones are moved over other networks which do not give a cut of revenues to Apple.
Source
Apple agrees to sell iPhones in France unlocked
On a previous blog at DailyTech, it was revealed that iPhones were invading France for the holiday season, after French carrier Orange struck a deal with Apple for distribution rights.
Now in a surprising twist, Apple and Orange will team up in France, and only in France, to offer the iPhone unlocked.
The move comes after Apple met a roadblock when its international policy of banning unlocking was challenged by French law. A French telecommunications law, passed in 1998 states that manufacturers must offer to unlock consumers phones for a small fee for the first sixth months after release, and for free after that, as reported via French news site Les Echoes.
The locked version of the phone will cost €399, but the unlocked version's price has not yet been announced by Apple. It may cost significantly more, though as French law mandates, Apple must agree to sell the phones unlocked at no premium after six months.
In the U.S. there are no laws that explicitly state that locking a phone to a network is illegal, though recent class action suits have accused Apple and its U.S. carrier, AT&T, of violating U.S. antitrust and warranty laws.
Apple is very much against unlocking iPhones, probably due to the fact that it makes a large cut of the phone contract, as detailed in the upcoming UK release. Apple loses this revenue when its phones are moved over other networks which do not give a cut of revenues to Apple.
Source
