Wednesday, April 23,2008 @ 10:35am
Belgium to receive unlocked iPhones?
Belgium has joined the ranks of countries that will soon receive the iPhone, according to regional site Astel.be. The site makes the crucial claim that the phone will be available unlocked, in a scheme similar to the one suggested for Italy by La Repubblica; while this could be a part of Apple's rumored new pricing plans, under which phones would be more expensive but unlocked by default, this may be a necessity, as Belgian law is said to prevent carrier exclusivity. A similar law resulted in the creation of an unlocked iPhone for France.
Three Belgian carriers -- Proximus, Mobistar and BASE -- are said to be creating special data packages for the iPhone, supporting unlimited transfers and "visual messaging." Mobistar may in fact have a temporary exclusive on the device, although if so this would last only two months.
It is also rumored that the iPhone could arrive in Belgium as soon as May, but as sources point to the country receiving the the 3G version, a June date is indicated as more likely.