Filed under: iPhone
Contract-free iPhones selling in France
When Apple was planning to sell the iPhone in France, Orange was identified as the exclusive carrier. The problem was that France prohibits a carrier lock to extend beyond 6 months. Additionally, French provider Bouygues Telecom SA filed a complaint with the Competition Council about that agreement back in September.A decision was reached earlier this month when the Competition Council decided that any French carrier should be able to offer the iPhone 3G. While Bouygues Telecom and SFR (the second-largest carrier in France) haven't begun selling iPhones, retailer FNAC has, and they're unlocked as far as we can tell. It's unclear (at least to us) if they're unlocked completely or only open to French carriers.
For the low, low price of €799 (or $1,122US as of this writing), you'll get an unlocked 8GB iPhone. The 16GB model will set you back €899 ($1,262US).
While we're on the topic, you can learn how to unlock your iPhone here.
[Via Ars Technica]
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
heytpn said 3:48PM on 12-29-2008
Dang, $1200????????
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colouroflight said 3:50PM on 12-29-2008
If French cell companies are as bad as their American counterparts, it'd almost be worth it not to be stuck in a contract.
If I wanted an iPhone right now (from AT&T) it would set me back $500 AND a commitment to 2 more years of their crappy service. This phone should never have been subsidized. Working this closely with AT&T just makes Apple look bad.
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alexignatiou said 3:56PM on 12-29-2008
899? I got mine unlocked for 569 from Vodafone Greece which also has to sell unlocked iPhones at request as there is a law. Still, it can be and it is the only seller, so other networks can't actually sell one with a contract of their own.
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SpeedFleX said 4:01PM on 12-29-2008
Well, I imported my iPhone from Italy, 600 € for the 16gb thats about 853 $. It is also unlocked.... but 799 € WOAAAA......
But better then the German Teledevil contract......
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dagamer34 said 3:58PM on 12-29-2008
I am wondering if Apple could have gotten away with charging $2,000+ or even more. I mean, technically they still aren't breaking the law, but making it extremely prohibitive to sell an iPhone to anyone but their "preferred" carrier.
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Metaphor said 4:01PM on 12-29-2008
I have always wondered about these unlocked phones especially as we have a lot of clients over here in the UK that want to buy and use them on their own carrier (many are part of big corporate contracts with Vodafone et al).
My question is what happens when you do a Software/Firmware update. I may be being dumb (probably am) but how does the phone know that it is not lockable by the firmware update? If it just carries on being unlocked great but would love to know!!!
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Raymond said 4:04PM on 12-29-2008
Apple Store Online Hong Kong has been offering unlocked contract-free iPhone for quite a while.
http://store.apple.com/hk/browse/home/shop_iphone/family/iphone?mco=MTE2NTQ
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Cameron said 4:05PM on 12-29-2008
damn thats expensive. Here in New Zealand they also have to sell unlocked phones. the 8gb is $979 (US$567) and the 16gb is $1129 (US$650) so thats a bargain compared to anywhere else
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fred said 4:11PM on 12-29-2008
In Belgium the iphone is available 525€ (8gb) and 615€ (16gb) contract free sinds the beginning of the launch ... and you can use it on every carrier ...
I think french had better come buy them in Belgium :p
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LD said 4:14PM on 12-29-2008
Hey, look at that, my prediction in the original thread was spot on:
"Mandating how a company does business is not in the best interests of the consumer or the companies. What happens if the price, say, doubles in France as a result because Apple can't guarantee certain funds it might have with an exclusive contract? I have a feeling all you socialist bastards will be bitching then too."
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Chittagong said 4:33PM on 12-29-2008
Metaphor - Short answer: Apple holds a database of all IMEI-codes and their supposed carrier lock statuses. If your phone is unlocked there, it's unlocked for life.
Long answer: the first time you take your iPhone into use iTunes connects to the Apple DB and checks which carrier lock status your phone should have (e.g. Finland = Sonera, UK = O2 etc.) and sets your device to that status.
If you manage to get your carrier to unlock your iPhone, they'll update your IMEI lock status to Apple's DB via their iTunes as authorized admistrators for your IMEI. Next time you connect to iTunes the program will connect again to Apple and notice your status has changed, thus iTunes will unlock your device. Every time you do a FW update it checks with Apple what your lock status should be. Since it's set to "unlocked", iTunes will keep your device unlocked.
Very elegant system, in my opinion.
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itsmeee said 4:42PM on 12-29-2008
Am I missing something here? I just bought one from AT&T, and after breaking contract and everything it's cost me just over $300. . .
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LD said 4:55PM on 12-29-2008
That's because you played the system :)
Did you break after 3 days? Before? After 30 days?
I am thinking of doing this myself as there is no way to upgrade my fiancee's existing AT$T contract to an iPhone until next Aug without paying $400.
Adam Willis said 6:04PM on 12-29-2008
I would be jealous if it weren't for the price.
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sam said 8:12PM on 12-29-2008
$1200 is ridiculous. Normally with phones, we except that they have a high non-contract price because we assume that it's just really expensive to make phones. With the iPhone we have an example of a non-encumbered product that is basically the same thing minus a cellular radio: the iPod touch.
What Apple is telling us here is that it costs roughly $1000 to add a cellular radio to an iPod. Obviously this is ridiculous since phones are a dime a dozen these days. You can blame the cell phone industry for this. They're applying the same pricing scheme to phones that they have for text messages.
Some day I hope to see institutions like cell phone companies (and HMOs which have the same problem for that matter) fail. When you regulate everything so heavily, the benefits from competition don't apply. We get $1200 phones that are worth probably $100, and we get to pay $50,000 for minor surgeries that you could get in another country for $500.
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VitaPrimo said 2:38AM on 12-31-2008
Here, in Mexico, they've been selling contract-free iPhones for some time now. They're like 8,500 pesos the 8GB model and the 16GB is like a 1000 more. (620 & 700 dollars respectively)
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halogan said 5:06AM on 12-30-2008
Here, in the Czech Republic, contract-free iPhones are sold for ~$640 (8 GB) and ~$750 (16 GB). That's the situation since day 1.
Only T-Mobile raised the price to ~$800 (8 GB) to prevent people from reselling iPhones on eBay.
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Michelle said 8:54AM on 12-30-2008
I don't understand this unlocked iPhone thing. Would another carrier be able to unlock it? So if I got one on AT$T, broke the contract and then went with my current Verizon Contract, would Verizon set up service on it?
JG said 2:51PM on 12-30-2008
LD, I really feel sorry for your moronic attitude.
As I happen to live in France, here's the real deal :
http://www.phonehouse.fr/fiche.php?node=34&type_offre=1&operateur=2&forfait=277&sku=IPHONE8GOUL
Shit, is that iPhone selling for 19€ VAT included ?
I guess yes !
The thing is the article is not really accurate.
It's a temporary court decision (while the case is being processed) that allows other carriers/shops to sell the iPhone too.
As a reaction, Orange droped the prices of the iPhone to 79€ and 99€ instead of 99€ and 129€ till Christmas.
Bouygues Telecom and SFR said they would sell it too, though they haven't yet came to an agreement with Apple regarding their share in revenues.
But other stores sell it either unlocked (to any carrier, even foreign) with no contract such as Fnac, or with a contrat with BT or SFR such as The Phone House (link above). I even think they sell it unlocked too cause Apple did not make locked versions for these carriers yet.
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Pete said 8:36PM on 12-30-2008
Orange has been selling unlocked iPhones since more than a year already. I bought some for friends in Dec 2007 and I can tell, they are completely unlocked. French law requires that. The new ruling doesn't mean they have to be unlocked (they have to, anyway), it only means that other carriers must be given the right to sell them as well.
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