macnn
11/14/2008, 9:20am, EST
Friday, November 14th
iPhone comes to Egypt without GPS functions
The iPhone has launched in Egypt through two separate carriers, reports say. Vodafone has unveiled four different plans, priced at 150, 250, 350 and 550 EGP, respectively. The first includes 150 minutes, 50 texts and 250MB of data. Each of these figures increases through to the last plan, which incorporates 1,200 minutes, 200 texts and 1GB of data. An 8GB phone costs 3,800 EGP, while the 16GB options are 4,450 EGP each.
The same phone costs are present with another carrier, Mobinil, but the carrier is unique in that it offers no specific plans for the iPhone; people must instead choose one of the company's general phone plans, or opt for pay-as-you-go service.
Notable is that functionality of the iPhone has been artificially restricted in the country, as the Egyptian government has placed a ban on GPS devices. The country is not the first to offer iPhones with limitations; in India the phone lacks 3G functionality, and it is believed that a Chinese version could be stripped of both 3G and Wi-Fi.
Filed under: iPhone
Other story tags: GPS, Vodafone, Egypt, Mobinil
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No GPS?? WTF.
You'd figure a GPS unit would definitely come in handy when you're lost in the desert and that's what I'd expect the majority of Egypt to be. One big frickin' sandbox. I'd sure like to know the reason for no GPS functions. I guess there are some parts of the world that never keep up with mainstream civilization.
fascinating
well ok, interesting. Making specific batches of iPhones with bits taken out or just deactivated ? Not that I'll touch the 3G iPhone until it has been successfully Pwned ;)
I wonder..
I wonder if skyhook is covered under Egyptian law. Not very precise, but something.
LOLOL!
I think a GPS would confuse an Egyptian 100x times more. LOLLLLLLL
Maybe...
they just don't want 19 Egyptians (or others) accurately meeting up in the middle of that "sand box" to train for another hijacking of an airliner and commit another terrorist attack? Maybe??
Not Really.
Hey Guys, I'm an egyptian and I would really appreciate it if the degrading comments stopped. No, egypt is not one huge snadbox, we had mega cities when the europeans were still living in caves and it's still the same way. and GPS is banned for national security reasons since we've been in quite a few REAL wars and had our share of terrorist attacks. go read something.
what???
I wonder if those users pay less for their phones?
Montana Guy Again
Now Egypt! How about Montana USA? When are we going to get iPhones in Montana? I guess our life's little dilemmas will just have to go on not getting solved here. Congratulations Egypt!
idiots
Jeez some people really are ignorant fools - the one country that is a terrorist supporting state is the USA, so look at yourself before trying to claim everyone else is.
Egyptian GPS ban
Can someone explain why the Egyptian government felt the need to place a ban on the use of GPS devices in the country?