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http://www.macnn.com/articles/07/12/14/unlocked.orange.iphones/

Orange iPhones not genuinely unlocked

updated 09:50 am EST, Fri December 14, 2007

 

'Unlocked' Orange iPhones


Foreign shoppers hoping to buy an unlocked iPhone from France will be disappointed, accounts suggest. Other than Germany's T-Mobile, France's Orange is the only carrier to sell unlocked iPhones; and at €749 apiece, they are a full €250 cheaper than the next legal option. Despite being marketed as carrier-free, however, the phones in fact turn out to be country-locked, meaning they can only be used with SIM cards for French carriers. Should an owner want to call outside of France, they will still need a plan with a French carrier and the money to pay roaming fees.

Loading an Orange iPhone with a SIM card from the US, Germany or any other unspecified country will temporarily cripple its cellular functions, including phone calls and SMS messaging. The restriction is likely in place to safeguard Apple's American and UK iPhone markets, where the company does have exclusive carrier contracts; as many as 20 percent of all French iPhones are being sold unlocked though, suggesting that many shoppers are willing to pay extra for the carrier of their choice.


by MacNN Staff

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 iPhone, unlock, Orange, France, Apple

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  1. jasong

    Mac Elite

    Joined: Mar 2000

    0
    12/14, 10:29am | report spam | Reply |

    I love this saying

    "as many as 20 percent . . ."

    or as few as 0.0000000000003 percent, but we're not interested in saying that.

  1. grandlapin

    Fresh-Faced Recruit

    Joined: Dec 2005

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    12/14, 10:45am | report spam | Reply |

    Microsoft attitude

    This is ridiculous. I live half time in France and half time in Switzerland and want to use my iPhone with local rates in both countries. Any other unlocked phone allows this. I wonder if it is even legal against french law to sell an unlocked phone which won't even work in any other european country. I am really mad at Apple for being so greedy with their carrier contracts, against the end user interests. If they had simply sold the iPhone as an unlocked phone from the beginning they would have sold millions more of them around the world.

  1. dliup

    Fresh-Faced Recruit

    Joined: Jan 2006

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    12/14, 10:58am | report spam | Reply |

    hum

    I hope they had listed that for unlocked phones, otherwise some people would not be too happy.

    But if the iPhone is sold as unlocked, without the unlimited internet plan, people are going to say, oh I got a $35,000 bill last month for my internet usage... (like that moron who probably sms 100 messages per hour and said, I got a 200 page bill, it still cost me the same, but I have low IQ and no job and I want to complain).

    Instead, in exchange for being exclusive, Apple negotiated an unlimited $20/month internet in the USA, when comparable internet access from other carriers costs $40/month. Note that the iPhone plan has forced many other carriers to drop their some of their unlimited internet package to $20 per month, so iPhone IS working its magic.

  1. Constable Odo

    Fresh-Faced Recruit

    Joined: Aug 2007

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    12/14, 11:00am | report spam | Reply |

    Guess what....?

    Apple didn't sell the iPhone as an unlocked phone from the beginning which should have been clearly understood.

    Let me know when greed isn't the major driving force of humanity. You'd be surprised how many handset manufacturers would be willing to lock their phones down if they could get away with it.

    Don't get mad, get even. Sell your iPhone and buy another handset from a company that allows completely unlocked phones.

    FWIW. I'm a long-term Apple shareholder and I'm satisfied with their iPhone decision of deferred revenue. They'll still sell millions of iPhones in the long run.

  1. dliup

    Fresh-Faced Recruit

    Joined: Jan 2006

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    12/14, 11:10am | report spam | Reply |

    unlocked iPhones

    There are other sources of unlocked iPhones besides Apple. These unlocked iPhones are actually less expensive then the official version.

    The thing is nothing else compares to the overall package that is the iPhone, so people wants it.

  1. vasic

    Fresh-Faced Recruit

    Joined: May 2005

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    12/14, 11:23am | report spam | Reply |

    Nothing illegal

    French law requires an unlocked phone. They are delivering exactly that - a phone that can be used in accordance to the laws in France. Once you leave France, you are no longer within France's jurisdiction. Their laws no longer protect you, not to mention that there is absolutely no responsibility, either of the French legal system, or the manufacturer/carrier to make sure the device you bought in France should work with carriers/components in other countries.

    Apple did a clever thing here and it tells us how they effectively solved their problem of opening up their device without compromising their colossal profit margins. As and AAPL share holder, I'm completely satisfied.

  1. danviento

    Fresh-Faced Recruit

    Joined: Dec 2005

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    12/14, 11:30am | report spam | Reply |

    Whine all you want,

    but Apple needed contracts to be able to have assurances to make sure the network worked with the phone, not the other way around. If it takes an short-term exclusive contract to make it happen, that's a price that has to be paid. With its enormous popularity, the iPhone & Apple may change the whole relationship between carriers and handset makers so that this won't be as much of an issue.

    For now, understand that it's still an experiment, and the have to start small. No whining.

  1. bearhuntley

    Fresh-Faced Recruit

    Joined: Dec 2007

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    12/14, 11:58am | report spam | Reply |

    This is madness

    Doesn't this break the principle of a European single market? By locking the iphone in France, it renders the device useless else where.

    I am almost sure that EU law states there must be the free movement of goods, labour & capital and any attempt to prevent this illegal.

    Although not identical isn't this why the EU is investigate Apple iTunes as it breaks this law? Certain 'songs' can't be brought in certain EU states meaning there is not a free movement of goods.

    In essence the case being EU citizens should be free to purchase from any iTunes store within the EU without restriction.

    By locking the iphone to France, aren't they preventing the free movement of goods between EU states?





  1. testudo

    Forum Regular

    Joined: Aug 2001

    0
    12/14, 12:18pm | report spam | Reply |

    Re: whine

    but Apple needed contracts to be able to have assurances to make sure the network worked with the phone, not the other way around.

    I'm sorry, but what is so f'ing different about the iPhone that required 'assurances'? Most other new phones work right out of the box, don't they?

    With its enormous popularity, the iPhone & Apple may change the whole relationship between carriers and handset makers so that this won't be as much of an issue.

    Apple's already changed the relationship. No other phone maker gets a monthly cut of the user fees like apple does.

    And if you really believe it's all about 'assuring' it works, that's fine. But most of us aren't as naive. Apple wants it slice of the cake, and that's why they demand the exclusive contracts. It has nothing to do with guaranteeing a quality experience, or making sure everyone gets their precious visual voicemail, but that Apple wants that nice $8 a month per user, or whatever it is.

  1. deVilliers

    Fresh-Faced Recruit

    Joined: Feb 2007

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    12/14, 12:35pm | report spam | Reply |

    de Villiers

    I think that vasic is incorrect. The regulations governing the common market expressly forbid the dividing up of countries within it so that products sold in one country are unable to work in another.

    This would appear to be against the ratio as expressed within Van Gend en Loos v. Nederlandse Administratie der Belastingen (Case 26/62); [1963] ECR 1; [1970] C.M.L.R. 1

    > Nothing illegal

    French law requires an unlocked phone. They are delivering exactly that - a phone that can be used in accordance to the laws in France. Once you leave France, you are no longer within France's jurisdiction. Their laws no longer protect you, not to mention that there is absolutely no responsibility, either of the French legal system, or the manufacturer/carrier to make sure the device you bought in France should work with carriers/components in other countries.

    Apple did a clever thing here and it tells us how they effectively solved their problem of opening up their device without compromising their colossal profit margins. As and AAPL share holder, I'm completely satisfied.

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