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Orange to Exclusively Distribute Unlocked Apple iPhone in France.

Apple iPhone Heads France with Orange

Category: Mobile

by Anton Shilov

[ 10/16/2007 | 11:22 PM ]

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Apple and Orange on Tuesday said that the latter will exclusively sell Apple iPhone in France, starting from late November. The two parties could not be able to reach agreement for several weeks and had generally tough negotiations, according to reports, however, end-users will not feel any discrimination and the iPhone will be available for the same price as in Germany and the UK. Moreover, Apple iPhones from Orange will work with any operator!

“The iPhone is a marvelous product and will change how people think about mobile. I’m delighted that it is launching in France through Orange, and I’m sure that our customers share my excitement. Our partnership with Apple is a natural fit because we are two global brands who share the same values of simplicity and innovation. It’s going to be a very merry Christmas for Orange customers all over the country!” said Didier Lombard, chief executive of France Telecom, the company that owns Orange brand.

Apple iPhone is scheduled to go on sale on November 29 and will be sold in France through Orange’s online and direct retail stores. iPhone will be available in an 8GB model for €399 including taxes for any subscription to one of the dedicated rate plans and will work with either a PC or Mac. Since it is forbidden to tie a particular phone to a particular operator in France, Apple iPhone devices sold by Orange will work with any GSMC operators throughout the world.

Apple iPhone combines digital media player, phone, Web browser and personal digital assistant’s features. The device is equipped with 3.5” touch-screen instead of keypad, includes support for quad-band GSM, EDGE, 802.11b/g Wi-Fi and Bluetooth 2.0 EDR wireless technologies. The iPhone also features a 2 megapixel (2MP) camera along with a photo management application.

The main problem for Apple iPhone in Europe is the lack of 3G support. Therefore, end-users will have to use much slower GPRS/EDGE connections or use Wi-Fi access points.