Rumor: Australian iPhones will be unlocked
A little birdie flew into TUAW Headquarters (read: Scott's Philadelphia apartment) this morning. In fact, he flew all the way from Australia to tell us that Vodafone will not be the exclusive carrier in Australia."What's that, little bird?" we asked. He said that Aussie carriers will have their own plans and deals, and that unlocked iPhones will be sold at Apple Stores.
Now, we can't substantiate the bird's accuracy (though he did say "G'Day" and "mate" several times), but considering the announcement that Italy will have two carriers, we aren't dismissing it out-of-pocket, either.
Update: The Sydney Morning Herald has published confirmation that Australia-based Telstra and Optus will also carry the iPhone.
![TUAW [Cafepress]](http://www.blogsmithmedia.com/www.tuaw.com/media/tuaw-cafepress-promo.png)
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
Scott Reynolds said 2:04PM on 5-07-2008
I don't suppose this birdie mentioned anything about country locks, a la France iPhones...
Reply
kakapo said 2:11PM on 5-07-2008
She'll be right, Mate...
I'll be flat out like a lizard drinkin' with my new iPhone! 3G - too! Optus!
Great news!
Scott - rumour has it that it will be unlocked, mate...
Reply
apernett said 2:17PM on 5-07-2008
and America Movil just officially announced that it will roll out the iPhone in all Latin America and the Caribbean, yay!, at last we latins have love from Apple...
Reply
iBSOD for iPhone said 2:34PM on 5-07-2008
this isn't a big deal nor is it a big rumour. if they sell them unlocked -- like what's happening in france, it'll simply be just raising the price of the phone itself.
probably the same will apply to south africa. you can't sell locked phones.
Reply
kurt.tappe said 2:44PM on 5-07-2008
Let me make sure I see the trend here: the iPhone is going to have multiple carriers in just about every country except the one where it was designed and its manufacturer is headquartered?
Reply
Scott Reynolds said 3:20PM on 5-07-2008
Just about. Except Canada, which (according to a Canadian friend) has effectively one wireless provider, period.
ianlive said 4:09PM on 5-07-2008
Um, not quite. Canada has three major independent carriers; Rogers (which owns a fourth carrier, Fido), Telus and Bell (named after the very dude that invented the telephone ;)
You're friend likely meant that Rogers is, at present, the only GSM carrier, hence the only one that can carry the iPhone. It is believed that Telus will be moving to GSM in the next year or two to try to cater to cellular customers from Europe wanting to roam on GSM when the Olympic hysteria hits Vancouver.
psxp said 2:43PM on 5-07-2008
same thing will happen in NZ .. only 2 cellular networks, Telecolm NZ and Vodafone.
Reply
Seth A said 2:58PM on 5-07-2008
Pretty Stereotypical post there mate. Lol Either way, I wouldn't be suprised, Oz has different laws on phone locking and such. Either way, to the person who mentioned that the US only has one carrier, at this point, there is only one 3GSM provider in the US, they don't have much choice.
Reply
kurt.tappe said 3:32PM on 5-07-2008
Actually, Verizon just started rolling out 3G. Admittedly it's only in NYC so far, but I suspect they have aggressive expansion plans. Still, at the time the iPhone 3G debuts, AT&T would indeed be the only one with a nationwide 3G network. But a year from now, Verizon may be a viable competitor if there are unlocked phones to use.
Graham said 4:16PM on 5-07-2008
Kurt: I'm assuming you mean T-mobile? Verizon has had 3G (but not 3GSM, of course) for a while now, longer than AT&T. Also, T-Mobile's 3G network uses weird spectrum that no one else really uses yet (1700mhz/2100mhz) and almost no one makes phones for. The 3G iPhone will likely have triband 3G (850/1900/2100), but quadband is unlikely. Also, given T-Mobile's painfully slow 3G rollout so far, I'm not sure how useful their network will be in a year. We'll see though.
Seth A said 5:23AM on 5-08-2008
Let me rephrase that. Any worthwhile 3GSM provider. Verizon is on the way to GSM with LTE, and T-Mobile has begun to roll out their, so far, lackluster network. It will be years before T-Mobile has the coverage of the only other to support 3G, and at&t's network is small at best. I certainly hope by the time T-Mobile has expanded that far that at&t will have expanded more, but it looks very unpromising. Yes, I am bitter that where I currently live doesn't have 3G!
dagamer34 said 3:09PM on 5-07-2008
Funny we have these announcements now instead of near WWDC. I don't think Apple likes that these companies can't keep their mouth shut.
Reply
Murphy Mac said 3:13PM on 5-07-2008
All these deal rumors and aapl is dropping today. Maybe because aapl isn't getting their slice of every iPhone bill in some of these deals?
Doesn't matter, aapl could easily hit $200+ in the hype buildup before WWDC.
Reply
DaffyDuck said 3:34PM on 5-07-2008
'supporting multiple carriers' is not the same as 'unlocked'.
Apple only needs to provide support for the 3-4 carriers in Australia, without completely unlocking the phone, and they achieve the same result.
Overly optimistic headlines disappoint when reality hits.
Reply
Bob said 3:36PM on 5-07-2008
Hmm... seams to me if apple will sell them both w/w o contract. Same thing in Italy, Apple would probably offer both providers (but one at a discount). I would only think that apple would make you pay more for it to be on something other than Vodafone (ex 3 or Telstra) But people who would purchase it on Vodafone would probably pay A$50-A$100 cheeper. (Thats if they make a semi-exclusive deal with Vodafone)
Reply
YukonDawg said 3:46PM on 5-07-2008
This bosters my theory that the 3G phone will be unlocked worldwide and that Apple will work with carriers to provide iPhone plans & subsidies, as well as specific rights to carry and sell the iPhone. Revenue sharing *may* be dead folks--look at the poor iPhone sales in Europe. People there just don't want to get locked into a contract or deal with a phone that locks them to a specific carrier.
Here in the U.S., at&t might still be the "exclusive" carrier for sales and offer the rumored $200 subsidy if you sign up for a 2-year contract (through iTunes of course) but you can buy an unlocked 3G iPhone at any Apple Store and take it to any carrier or county of your choice.
This way Apple deals with both the twin problems of the cat & mouse unlocking game (and resultant warranty nightmare and bad PR) as well as the limits on sales due to exclusive carrier agreements. In the end, Apple might end up looking more like typical phone manufacturers such as Nokia and HTC.
Reply
awado said 4:37PM on 5-07-2008
Recently I got an offer of a official (german) Apple reseller for unlocked iPhones 8 and 16GB. I can preorder a number of any for 425/495 Euros. As it is an Apple reseller I can't think of a fake. They would risc their license, I think.
Reply
Lars said 4:50PM on 5-07-2008
The poor iPhone sales in Europe are mostly because the lock-ins come at no (or yawnable) discount and the accompanying plans are prohibitively expensive.
Without 3G there are better deals and phones to choose from over here. Must say that I like the idea of non-exclusivity and more varied offering of plans.
We'll see.
Reply
Lars said 4:51PM on 5-07-2008
Ow, and the fact that Apple hasn't wised up to the whole euro versus the dollar thing.
Reply