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Vodafone and O2 to Break T-Mobile's iPhone Exclusivity in Germany

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Apr 12, 2001
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Apple's list of major markets with carrier exclusivity for the iPhone continues to dwindle with today's announcements by Vodafone and O2 that they will soon begin offering the iPhone 4 in Germany, breaking T-Mobile's longstanding exclusivity for Apple's handsets in that country. For the time being, the two new carriers are only offering information pages to allow users to register their interest in the device, with phone and service plan pricing and launch dates to be announced later.


143240-o2_germany_iphone_500.jpg


Apple noted in its April earnings conference call that the U.S., Germany, and Spain were the three remaining "major" markets where single carriers held the rights for the iPhone. Since that time, Spain and now Germany have gone non-exclusive, leaving AT&T in the United States as the primary exclusive relationship for Apple and the iPhone. Several other large markets, including Japan and China, also have exclusive-carrier status for the moment, but Apple has not chosen to include them in its citations of its most significant markets.

AT&T's exclusivity may not last much longer, however, as increasing numbers of reports are pointing the launch of a CDMA-based iPhone on Verizon early next year.

Article Link: Vodafone and O2 to Break T-Mobile's iPhone Exclusivity in Germany
 
Article Link
https://www.macrumors.com/2010/10/12/vodafone-and-o2-to-break-t-mobiles-iphone-exclusivity-in-germany/
Finally .. TMobile Ger had the worst deals on the iPhone .. hope that is going to get better now.

T.
 
Great!!!

I sure as hell hope this only means Verizon is next in line, so that all these perpetual whiners will SHUT THE **** up and get off my network and switch to their beloved Verizon.

Oh, and I CAN'T wait till the iPhone eventually becomes available on Boost Mobile & Metro PCS. I'm sure the carrier-bashing thread will be just as entertaining as the ones about the Wal-Mart iPad!
 
The iPhone would sooner arrive on T-Mobile or Sprint in the US than Verizon. There are many more barriers besides technological barring it from being sold on the Verizon network and all of them have to do with Verizon's business model of relying on tying of "value added" services like V-Cast.

Speaking as a Canadian who had previously been a customer of CDMA carriers in my counter (Telus), I understand how their business models work. Even the GSM carriers like Rogers had similar tying of 3 dollar music downloads before the iPhone arrived and disrupted that business model.

I have used the following companies in the past:
Telus - CDMA
Rogers - GSM
Fido (current customer with iPhone 3GS) GSM/HSPA

I'm also a customer of Bell for my 15 dollar per month iPad data plan.
 
aristotle said:
The iPhone would sooner arrive on T-Mobile or Sprint in the US than Verizon. There are many more barriers besides technological barring it from being sold on the Verizon network and all of them have to do with Verizon's business model of relying on tying of "value added" services like V-Cast.

Speaking as a Canadian who had previously been a customer of CDMA carriers in my counter (Telus), I understand how their business models work. Even the GSM carriers like Rogers had similar tying of 3 dollar music downloads before the iPhone arrived and disrupted that business model.

I have used the following companies in the past:
Telus - CDMA
Rogers - GSM
Fido (current customer with iPhone 3GS) GSM/HSPA

I'm also a customer of Bell for my 15 dollar per month iPad data plan.
Click to expand...

T-Mobile, yes. There's very few reasons not to go to T-Mobile, and probably the only one that's actually stopped them is the exclusivity agreement with AT&T. T-Mobile could have the iPhone in a week if Apple was able to offer it to them (and they may be able/ready to very soon, if the rumors are true about Verizon).

Sprint, on the other hand, is never going to happen. When they chose WiMAX, they also lost any chance of getting the iPhone (not that that was a primary concern for them in the decision I'm sure, just noting that it's the primary reason the iPhone won't be showing up at Sprint). Apple's not going to make a model of the iPhone just for Sprint, who I expect will be going under in a little while, or more likely bought out.

jW
 
I'd love to see the iPhone open up to other providers. However I doubt I'll be switching from AT&T (did I really just say that?) because their pricing is so cheap!
 
End U.S. AT&T iPhone exclusivity and watch Android sales numbers plummet.

Make it happen, Steve.
 
Mal said:
T-Mobile, yes. There's very few reasons not to go to T-Mobile, and probably the only one that's actually stopped them is the exclusivity agreement with AT&T. T-Mobile could have the iPhone in a week if Apple was able to offer it to them (and they may be able/ready to very soon, if the rumors are true about Verizon).

Sprint, on the other hand, is never going to happen. When they chose WiMAX, they also lost any chance of getting the iPhone (not that that was a primary concern for them in the decision I'm sure, just noting that it's the primary reason the iPhone won't be showing up at Sprint). Apple's not going to make a model of the iPhone just for Sprint, who I expect will be going under in a little while, or more likely bought out.

jW
Click to expand...

Well, I suppose they could do it next week if they release a new iPhone capable of actually using T-mobiles 3G network. Unless you are okay with just 2G on T-mobile?

A CDMA phone would work just fine on Sprint though...I think.
 
Wait, I thought this story was about Germany? Why is everyone discussing
AT&T?

LagunaSol said:
End U.S. AT&T iPhone exclusivity and watch Android sales numbers plummet.

Make it happen, Steve.
Click to expand...

In countries where iPhone is available on multiple carriers, Android is still strong. The United Kingdom is one of them - iPhone is available on five carriers and handsets like HTC Desire and Samsung Galaxy S perform extremely well.

Blackberry is also very strong here among high school and college age people.
 
neiltc13 said:
In countries where iPhone is available on multiple carriers, Android is still strong. The United Kingdom is one of them - iPhone is available on five carriers and handsets like HTC Desire and Samsung Galaxy S perform extremely well.
Click to expand...

Worldwide iPhone smartphone market share is significantly stronger than U.S. smartphone market share when compared directly to Android. This is directly due to single-carrier exclusivity in the U.S. An iPhone on Verizon, Sprint and T-Mobile will certainly impact Android device sales in a negative way.
 
jholzner said:
Well, I suppose they could do it next week if they release a new iPhone capable of actually using T-mobiles 3G network. Unless you are okay with just 2G on T-mobile?

A CDMA phone would work just fine on Sprint though...I think.
Click to expand...

My understanding is that there are no hardware changes necessary to support T-Mobile's 3G network, only firmware. Of course, I'm not an expert, but that's what I've seen stated many times now.

CDMA on Sprint wouldn't get their new network, so while it would work fine on their existing service, it's not very good service. They have one of the smallest networks in the US (of the big 4).

jW
 
Mal said:
My understanding is that there are no hardware changes necessary to support T-Mobile's 3G network, only firmware. Of course, I'm not an expert, but that's what I've seen stated many times now.

CDMA on Sprint wouldn't get their new network, so while it would work fine on their existing service, it's not very good service. They have one of the smallest networks in the US (of the big 4).

jW
Click to expand...

3G on T-Mobile operates on a different frequency that neither the current nor previous iPhones support. So, it would work fine on Edge but would not work on 3G with our without a firmware update. They would need to update the hardware to support the frequency.

Edit: You are right that a CDMA iPhone wouldn't work on WiMax but I don't think Apple cares at this point and would be fine releasing the CDMA version on Sprint....but who knows. From rumors, it doesn't appear that they intend to support LTE until at least 2012 so no WiMax support is also assumed (by me, that is).
 
No CDMA iPhone, NEVER.

There's nothing wrong with Apple selling to multiple GSM carriers, like Vodafone, TMobile, etc. In fact Apple should offer the option to buy the iPhone unlocked.

But CDMA iPhone?? It won't have any resale value. If you buy a Verizon iPhone you cannot PHYSICALLY use it on any other network! PHYSICALLY. It's hardcoded into the baseband that it will only work on Verizon. GSM on the other hand uses SIM cards so you can easily swap them in and out with an unlock.
 
macintologist said:
No CDMA iPhone, NEVER.

There's nothing wrong with Apple selling to multiple GSM carriers, like Vodafone, TMobile, etc. In fact Apple should offer the option to buy the iPhone unlocked.

But CDMA iPhone?? It won't have any resale value. If you buy a Verizon iPhone you cannot PHYSICALLY use it on any other network! PHYSICALLY. It's hardcoded into the baseband that it will only work on Verizon. GSM on the other hand uses SIM cards so you can easily swap them in and out with an unlock.
Click to expand...

Why does that affect me? I never leave the US, and and Verizon gives me the coverage I need. And resale? Who cares, it's a $300 phone. I'm not the person who is getting a new phone every year. We are not talking about depreciation from cars here.
 
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