iPhone comes to Egypt without GPS functions

View this article at: http://www.macnn.com/articles/08/11/14/iphone.launches.in.egypt/

Friday, Nov 14, 2008 9:20am

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.