Orange to Sell iPhone in Europe, Middle East, and Africa

[MacRumors]

http://www.macrumors.com/images/macrumorsthreadlogo.gif (http://www.macrumors.com)

The flood of announcements regarding iPhone carriers continued today with a one-sentence press release from Orange (http://www.francetelecom.com/en_EN/press/press_releases/cp080516uk.html) announcing an agreement with Apple to bring the iPhone to a number of countries in Europe, the Middle East, and Africa.

Article Link (http://www.macrumors.com/iphone/2008/05/16/orange-to-sell-iphone-in-europe-middle-east-and-africa/)

[tgildred]

The flood of announcements regarding iPhone carriers continued today with a one-sentence press release from Orange (http://www.francetelecom.com/en_EN/press/press_releases/cp080516uk.html) announcing an agreement with Apple to bring the iPhone to a number of countries in Europe, the Middle East, and Africa.


Yes, but what a sentence!

[Buschmaster]

Great! Keep them coming!:D

[stagi]

Sweet, they are going to be everywhere by the end of the year!

[zombitronic]

So we have:
01) USA
02) UK
03) Germany
04) Austria
05) France
06) Ireland
07) India
08) Argentina
09) Brazil
10) Chile
11) Dominican Republic
12) El Salvador
13) Guatemala
14) Honduras
15) Jamaica
16) Nicaragua
17) Paraguay
18) Peru
19) Puerto Rico
20) Uruguay
21) Colombia
22) Philippines
23) Jamaica
24) Australia
25) Ecuador
26) Canada
27) Singapore
28) Mexico
29) Italy
30) Czech Republic
31) Egypt
32) Greece
33) Italy
34) New Zealand
35) Portugal
36) Turkey
37) Belgium
38) Jordan
39) Poland
40) Romania
41) Slovakia
42) Switzerland
43) South Africa (not sure which specific countries)

Thank you, Wikipedia. Have I left anyone out?

Either way, I don't think Apple will have a problem hitting their 10 million mark by year's end.

[trickytrev]

Do you guys agree with me that this can be in fact the biggest hint that iPhone2 is NOT carrier locked?

2 out of 3 Swiss carriers have announced it within days. (Swisscom and Orange, - waiting for Sunrise/Tele2)

[FullGaz]

Funny they're not including Israel in that list. Most people here walk around with at least 2 phones, so there is a market in this small country. And I'm waiting to get my hands on one of these babies as well :D

[g-7]

Poland! At least! :D

But wait a second. What about activation? There's no iTunes Store in Poland, how are we going to activate those iPhones?
Or maybe they won't need activation...?

[kornyboy]

Wirelessly posted (iPhone: Mozilla/5.0 (iPhone; U; CPU like Mac OS X; en) AppleWebKit/420.1 (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/3.0 Mobile/4A102 Safari/419.3)

So we have:
01) USA
02) UK
03) Germany
04) Austria
05) France
06) Ireland
07) India
08) Argentina
09) Brazil
10) Chile
11) Dominican Republic
12) El Salvador
13) Guatemala
14) Honduras
15) Jamaica
16) Nicaragua
17) Paraguay
18) Peru
19) Puerto Rico
20) Uruguay
21) Colombia
22) Philippines
23) Jamaica
24) Australia
25) Ecuador
26) Canada
27) Singapore
28) Mexico
29) Italy
30) Czech Republic
31) Egypt
32) Greece
33) Italy
34) New Zealand
35) Portugal
36) Turkey
37) Belgium
38) Jordan
39) Poland
40) Romania
41) Slovakia
42) Switzerland
43) South Africa (not sure which specific countries)

Thank you, Wikipedia. Have I left anyone out?

Either way, I don't think Apple will have a problem hitting their 10 million mark by year's end.

I think it is South Africa the country not the region. If I would have to guess.

[Cromulent]

43) South Africa (not sure which specific countries)

South Africa is a country :).

[ArtOfWarfare]

Thank you, Wikipedia. Have I left anyone out?

I recall hearing something about a China company reversing their previous decision of not selling the iPhone in China...

so... I think you left out China.

[Stig McNasty]

If Apple gave Orange the iPhone as well as O2 it'd bring some much needed competition to the UK, and better coverage. O2 sucks where I live.

[samab]

Do you guys agree with me that this can be in fact the biggest hint that iPhone2 is NOT carrier locked?

2 out of 3 Swiss carriers have announced it within days. (Swisscom and Orange, - waiting for Sunrise/Tele2)

As long as there are n number of carriers and n-1 iphone carriers --- then you are going to expect sim-locking.

Even if there are equal number of carriers and iphone carriers --- you may still have sim-locking, if they compete on price subsidies.

[Tattoo]

Who knew they even had that technology!? :eek:

[swagi]

So...there's Orange breaking the T-mobile exclusivity in Austria.

Very interesting indeed. So I keep my fingers crossed, that o2 will be the second iPhone source in Germany.

[laxmax613]

Funny they're not including Israel in that list. Most people here walk around with at least 2 phones, so there is a market in this small country. And I'm waiting to get my hands on one of these babies as well :D

beat me to the post. i would get one but i already have orange and cellcom has the edge network. i'd put money one orange seling it though.

[Lycanthrope]

In Belgium you are not allowed to lock phones to networks and you are not allowed to subsidize the phone with the contract.

Ergo that Mobistar (Orange brand here) may have them in their shops but there will be nothing to stop people off the street buying them unlocked for the same price.

[samab]

In Belgium you are not allowed to lock phones to networks and you are not allowed to subsidize the phone with the contract.

Ergo that Mobistar (Orange brand here) may have them in their shops but there will be nothing to stop people off the street buying them unlocked for the same price.

There are 2 Belgium cases that have appealed up to the European Court of Justice on whether Belgium's anti-bundling law is against EU's consumer protection laws (the cases will be heard on June 17, 2008).

http://www.iht.com/articles/2008/01/16/technology/iphone.php

Meanwhile, Belgium is thinking about repealing the anti-bundling law.

http://www.vanbaelbellis.com/files/BE%200108-100213A.pdf

Looks like Orange is betting that Beglium is going to kill their existing laws.

[iWizzard]

Where are the Scandinavian countries? I would think a market with over 100% mobile phone subscribers would be an interesting market.

Luckily there is always the option to buy it from USA (MUCH cheaper)

[winterspan]

Congrats to everyone in Switzerland, Belgium, Austria, and Poland! (and every other country mentioned too!)

Poland! At least! :D

But wait a second. What about activation? There's no iTunes Store in Poland, how are we going to activate those iPhones?
Or maybe they won't need activation...?

In one of the press release articles about new iPhone countries, they said that the new country would also be getting an iTunes store at the same time as the iPhone in order to activate it. So I would guess "iTunes Store Poland" will be here soon. In addition to just activation, every country will need an iTunes store so that everyone can download firmware updates and software from the iPhone app store! Maybe they will just leave out the Music/Video part for certain countries


Who knew they even had that technology!? :eek:

Well, the obvious place of course is South Africa, but people (ahem.. Americans) always forget that Egypt, Libya, and Morocco are also in AFRICA. All of Africa is not Lion and Buffalo Savannah. lol.
Other countries besides those four with UMTS (3G) networks include Namibia, Angola, Nigeria , Kenya, Sudan, Tanzania, Uganda, Zimbabwe, Seychelles, and Mauritius. I wouldn't necessarily assume that many didn't have 3G networks running before the USA. :eek:

Also, if you think about it, cell phone towers are much easier and cheaper than putting down phone lines in developing countries.


Where are the Scandinavian countries? I would think a market with over 100% mobile phone subscribers would be an interesting market.

Luckily there is always the option to buy it from USA (MUCH cheaper)

I was shocked to actually find there hasn't been any announcements! It's a NOKIA CONSPIRACY! :) I hope you guys get the iPhone too!

[megfilmworks]

Netherlands? They really want them over there.

[Yuppi]

Where are the Scandinavian countries? I would think a market with over 100% mobile phone subscribers would be an interesting market.

Luckily there is always the option to buy it from USA (MUCH cheaper)

i will leave sweden if they don't announce it there soon! ;)
I have seen quite a few people around here that have an iPhone. And it really bothered me that this guy could surf for a longer time on his iPhone (and have more fun) than me on my N95 :(

But from the amount of announced countries I can only highly doubt that there is any exclusiveness is going on. I even doubt they are locked.

[Nick012]

In Belgium you are not allowed to lock phones to networks and you are not allowed to subsidize the phone with the contract.

Ergo that Mobistar (Orange brand here) may have them in their shops but there will be nothing to stop people off the street buying them unlocked for the same price.

I guess we'll see who has the best plan suited to the iPhone. Thats what'll set the carriers apart. Still, nice to see that if I'm back in BE next year I can get myself an iPhone :)

[samab]

I guess we'll see who has the best plan suited to the iPhone. Thats what'll set the carriers apart. Still, nice to see that if I'm back in BE next year I can get myself an iPhone :)

Chances are by the time you visit Belgium next year, the European Court of Justice will rule that Belgium's anti-bundling law should be struck down because it's incompatible with EU directives. And Belgium is going to repeal the law.

[Mackan]

i will leave sweden if they don't announce it there soon! ;)
I have seen quite a few people around here that have an iPhone. And it really bothered me that this guy could surf for a longer time on his iPhone (and have more fun) than me on my N95 :(

But from the amount of announced countries I can only highly doubt that there is any exclusiveness is going on. I even doubt they are locked.

Hasn't reached Scandinavia, and particulary Sweden, because we are not used to get ripped off with the kind of terms and contract that the iPhone is connected too. Only hardcore Mac fanboys would buy it, the rest would laugh in your face if you mention the conditions.

In every news item the iPhone has been connected to one or several carriers, I don't know why you think it is not exclusive, and not locked? If it truely were unlocked, we would just have one news: Apple releases unlocked iPhone for sale all over the world where they sell iPods. Apple still tries to reach as many exclusive deals as possible whereever they can.

[matthewlesh]

All you have to do is have a look at...

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/c/cb/IPhone_availability.png/800px-IPhone_availability.png

Also i still think there is going to be activation.. why else would they hold discussions, organize and announce the iPhone in these countries.

[Lycanthrope]

Chances are by the time you visit Belgium next year, the European Court of Justice will rule that Belgium's anti-bundling law should be struck down because it's incompatible with EU directives. And Belgium is going to repeal the law.

That would be a shame IMO, I think the current structure is actually beneficial to the client. OK the handset prices may be higher but the contract costs are cheap and easy to get out of. That leads to more flexibility.

[Shadowriver]

Emmm map is not complete, i heard Orange gotten exclusivity in Romania ;p
and on list in beginning of the topic you missed Poland ^^'

[ariza910]

O2s parent company Telefonica announced the iPhone for Spain on their MoviStar network

[lofight]

There are 2 Belgium cases that have appealed up to the European Court of Justice on whether Belgium's anti-bundling law is against EU's consumer protection laws (the cases will be heard on June 17, 2008).

http://www.iht.com/articles/2008/01/16/technology/iphone.php

Meanwhile, Belgium is thinking about repealing the anti-bundling law.

http://www.vanbaelbellis.com/files/BE%200108-100213A.pdf

Looks like Orange is betting that Beglium is going to kill their existing laws.

Orange is not betting on it. Like in France, Apple and Orange will find a way to legally sell the iphone in Belgium. This is by selling it locked with mobistar (Belgium's Orange) and an other provider. Or by selling A locked and unlocked version, like in France.

To me it is dissapointing that you have to buy the iphone with a contract, and if you don't, you need to pay more money (thinking legally).

[TheSpecialist]

Now when do the Dutch (Netherlands) get it:mad: I want it!

[samab]

That would be a shame IMO, I think the current structure is actually beneficial to the client. OK the handset prices may be higher but the contract costs are cheap and easy to get out of. That leads to more flexibility.

The European Commission thinks that BIPT is not independent enough from the Ministry and is too close to the carriers.

To me it is dissapointing that you have to buy the iphone with a contract, and if you don't, you need to pay more money (thinking legally).

So what do you want? They give you the iphone for free and your iphone plan is as cheap as the US iphone plan.

[lofight]

The European Commission thinks that BIPT is not independent enough from the Ministry and is too close to the carriers.



So what do you want? They give you the iphone for free and your iphone plan is as cheap as the US iphone plan.

No. I want too buy the iPhone and have a contract, like: you can choose when you want to reload your money. Like pay&go. You pay 10 € and get 10 € where you can call and sms with. But you need to reload a minimum of 10€ ten times with the same provider, let's say AT&T. And after that you're free. I want this because every month is a huge difference with me. Sometimes I use 15 € in a month, sometimes 5.

[VicMacs]

So where are we going to buy the iphones in these countries? cell phone dealers or apple resellers? how does it work in the UK and France?

[winterspan]

No. I want too buy the iPhone and have a contract, like: you can choose when you want to reload your money. Like pay&go. You pay 10 € and get 10 € where you can call and sms with. But you need to reload a minimum of 10€ ten times with the same provider, let's say AT&T. And after that you're free. I want this because every month is a huge difference with me. Sometimes I use 15 € in a month, sometimes 5.

Don't we all wish that type of thing would be available. lol. That's how all the cell carriers make their money! I've never really spent any amount of time looking into Pay-and-go as it is usually intended, as least in the United States, for kids and people with bad credit. But I've heard it is very expensive for minutes, and you can't get data coverage. I don't know about Belgium and the rest of Europe, but I doubt the USA will see a pay-and-go iPhone anytime soon.

[trickytrev]

so in switzerland, all 3 big carriers have announced the iphone!!
(Swisscom, Orange, Sunrise) - estimated selling potential of 250,000 to 500,000 phones they reckon.

[lofight]

Don't we all wish that type of thing would be available. lol. That's how all the cell carriers make their money! I've never really spent any amount of time looking into Pay-and-go as it is usually intended, as least in the United States, for kids and people with bad credit. But I've heard it is very expensive for minutes, and you can't get data coverage. I don't know about Belgium and the rest of Europe, but I doubt the USA will see a pay-and-go iPhone anytime soon.

Well carriers could make money out of this. In Belgium almost all the teenagers have prepaid sim cards. It does cost me 30 eurocent per minute and 8 eurocent for an sms to all the carriers. But when I reload for 10 € I Get 1000 sms free to the same carrier (in my case Base or Jim) and 30 min. free to the same carrier. And because almost all my friends are BAse or Jim, this is very handy! The free sms and minutes are worth for one month, and the rest a year.

[polishmacuser]

Poland! At least! :D

But wait a second. What about activation? There's no iTunes Store in Poland, how are we going to activate those iPhones?
Or maybe they won't need activation...?
i can agree with you :D lol Go Poland :D but seriously how is all this going to happen maybe its a global unlock for all the countries lol :D

[winterspan]

i can agree with you :D lol Go Poland :D but seriously how is all this going to happen maybe its a global unlock for all the countries lol :D

Totally unrelated: although this only extends to 3 people, I just wanted to say that it seems every Polish girl I have met is beautiful!! Now of course this is within the Los Angeles area and many beautiful women move here to work in the entertainment industry --- however, none of them were trying to be models or actresses.
oh, and their sexy accents! Polish accents are definitely sexier than many european accents, although no one can rival the french! Go Poland! :)

[SUDIZ]

So we have:
01) USA
02) UK
03) Germany
04) Austria
05) France
06) Ireland
07) India
08) Argentina
09) Brazil
10) Chile
11) Dominican Republic
12) El Salvador
13) Guatemala
14) Honduras
15) Jamaica
16) Nicaragua
17) Paraguay
18) Peru
19) Puerto Rico
20) Uruguay
21) Colombia
22) Philippines
23) Jamaica
24) Australia
25) Ecuador
26) Canada
27) Singapore
28) Mexico
29) Italy
30) Czech Republic
31) Egypt
32) Greece
33) Italy
34) New Zealand
35) Portugal
36) Turkey
37) Belgium
38) Jordan
39) Poland
40) Romania
41) Slovakia
42) Switzerland
43) South Africa (not sure which specific countries)

Thank you, Wikipedia. Have I left anyone out?

Either way, I don't think Apple will have a problem hitting their 10 million mark by year's end.


I agree with you..;)

[ScubaDuc]

Chances are by the time you visit Belgium next year, the European Court of Justice will rule that Belgium's anti-bundling law should be struck down because it's incompatible with EU directives. And Belgium is going to repeal the law.

Mobistar has delayed the launch in Belgium :mad: