Vodafone Gets Restraining Order On T-Mobile's iPhone Sales

[ogee]

DUESSELDORF -(Dow Jones)- The German unit of Vodafone Group PLC (VOD) has obtained a restraining order against Deutsche Telekom AG's (DT) T-Mobile unit prohibiting the German telecommunications giant from selling Apple Inc.'s (AAPL) iPhone in Germany.

The restraining order was issued by a regional court in Hamburg Monday, a Vodafone Deutschland spokesman told Dow Jones Newswires.

Vodafone is questioning Deutsche Telekom's iPhone sales practices, the spokesman said. Deutsche Telekom is marketing the iPhone exclusively in Germany.

Specifically, Vodafone is questioning the iPhone's exclusive use in T-Mobile's network and the use of the device being limited to certain fees within T- Mobile's subscription offerings.

More ...
http://money.cnn.com/news/newsfeeds/...2_FORTUNE5.htm


And in related news

Court orders Telekom to sell iPhone without subscription
Dusseldorf, Germany (dpa) - Vodafone said Monday it had won a court order requiring its rival, Deutsche Telekom, to sell the Apple iPhone in Germany without a mandatory calling plan.

The stylish touchscreen phone-cum-music-player went on sale this month in Germany with Telekom as exclusive vendor. The telco requires buyers to sign up to a two-year contract with its T-Mobile wireless network.

Telekom confirmed it had received a temporary injunction.

More ...
http://www.eux.tv/article.aspx?articleId=17976

[aerospace]

nobody (as far as i know) in the us had to sign a contract to buy one, you sign up at home via itunes. no big deal.

[CD3660]

Sounds to me like a step in the right direction, and good news for the consumer. I'm not a fan of restrictive practises myself.

[ogee]

Originally Posted by aerospace

nobody (as far as i know) in the us had to sign a contract to buy one, you sign up at home via itunes. no big deal.

In Germany yes you have to sign when you buy. No Apple online store purchase, only at T-Mobile stores.

The problem is that its locked to a network and stupid rates. Like the 50 Euro "unlimited" internet is limited to 200Mb. Its not possible for an existing customer to walk into a T-Mobile shop, buy an iPhone and just leave then use it on their existing plan. Nor for a Vodafone (or other companies) customer to buy one and use it on that network. This unknown in the German marketplace and is monopolistic.

This is one I hope Vodafone wins to set a presidence for unlocking the iPhone

EDIT: It should be noted that Vodafone also has exclusive phones like the Samsung Qbowl, but its not sim locked.

[superleccy]

My guess is that Vodafone turned down the iPhone in Germany and other markets because it didn't like (or couldn't afford) Apple's terms.

T-mobile now have to comply (and pay the price for) with those terms, and thus trying to claw-back the cost of those terms by restricting customers more that they normally would. But this seems to be against Germany's anti-competition laws.

So Vodafone is quite right to have a go. Maybe if Vodafone had intended to flout those same laws, it might have decided that going with the iPhone was a good business case.

And it can't be bad for the consumer. Let's hope that this is just the start.

SL

[jmmo20]

Apple is really getting into a big mess if they want to control a parcentage of the monthly bills generated by iphone customers all over the world.

I, for one, won't buy an iPhone because in Spain it will be exclusive with Movistar (Telefonica owns both Movistar and O2 in the UK). I've been on Vodafone for many years and don't miss a bit my time spent using Movistar.

It's quite easy actually: i'm pretty sure they'd sell a lot more iphones if it was an unlock product .. like all the phones Nokia or SonyEricsson sell.

[TonyHoyle]

I'm just surprised dtag thought they could get away with it.. they don't mess about with their laws in germany. (Unlike in the UK where it'll probably be about a year before the regulator gets around to doing anything)

[heaven]

ORF.AT is also reporting that Vodafone is against T-Mobile exclusivity.

[kornyboy]

Wirelessly posted (Mozilla/5.0 (iPhone; U; CPU like Mac OS X; en) AppleWebKit/420.1 (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/3.0 Mobile/3B48b Safari/419.3)

Originally Posted by aerospace

nobody (as far as i know) in the us had to sign a contract to buy one, you sign up at home via itunes. no big deal.

Actually, by signing up in the US using iTunes (the only way to do it in the US) you are committed to a 2 year contract with AT&T.

[seedster2]

This whole profit sharing approach will never come to fruition for Apple. People underestimated it, but the number of unlockers will continue to grow and they will not see a dime in kickback from them.

They could have sold it unlocked at a higher MSRP and made out like bandits. People overseas dont like long contracts and domestically users dont want to pay these crazy termination fees so they are leaving money on the table.

The desire to have complete control may work in computers, but I am not sure the same approach can be applied successfully in the cell market. Owners are constantly looking to customize and make their phone new again. It's a great device that was hyped so much that many aren't going to wait for Apple to rape another telecom, they'll just get an unlocked one and use it right away.

[c-Row]

Isn't that the same Vodafone who tried to competed for the exclusive marketing rights before they pulled out and left it to T-Mobile? I wonder if they would mind at all if they had the iPhone now...

[ravenvii]

Originally Posted by seedster2

The desire to have complete control may work in computers, but I am not sure the same approach can be applied successfully in the cell market. Owners are constantly looking to customize and make their phone new again. It's a great device that was hyped so much that many aren't going to wait for Apple to rape another telecom, they'll just get an unlocked one and use it right away.

Sorry, but I disagree. I think people customize their computers more than they do their phones.

The hackers are a very small minority. They make a lot of sound, but they don't really have much bite.

The "Look at me, I hacked my iPhone and I am BIG, now listen to me" talk is getting old.



Anyway, I support Vodafone in this. Maybe this will set off a chain of events that will lead Apple to diversify providers more.

And most of all... allow me to use an iPhone without a voice plan! (Data-only for the win).

(And to save me some energy "correcting" some asshat... I am deaf, so voice is useless, and I'd rather pay $40/month for data-only instead of paying $60/month, of which 2/3 of the cost goes towards voice)

[Yuppi]

Vodafone is a bad loser. No one cares about their exclusive phone. And I sure know why they don't want the manufacturer of a handset to be in a better position. They want to have their themes on every damn phone.
But in this case they actually help the customer.

[alFR]

Originally Posted by jmmo20

It's quite easy actually: i'm pretty sure they'd sell a lot more iphones if it was an unlock product .. like all the phones Nokia or SonyEricsson sell.

My old Nokia 6310 was locked to Orange UK, so clearly Nokia do sell some locked 'phones.

[MacBoobsPro]

This may sound a little warped but locking a phone (that everybody wants) to a network could actually make the other networks that missed out/passed on up their game to offer a better network.

Rival phone manufacturers not wanting to be out done will start making better phones. Its good for the consumer (in a way).

EDIT: And I have just remembered I switched from TMobile having been with them from the start because the phone I wanted was only available on Vodafone. Worst mistake ever! Phone was/is **** and the network seems all over the place. I will be getting iPhone soon.

[TonyHoyle]

Originally Posted by alFR

My old Nokia 6310 was locked to Orange UK, so clearly Nokia do sell some locked 'phones.

Nokia don't... Orange locked it. You could have phoned Orange and got the unlock code after you'd paid off the subsidy (normally defined as when the contract ended).

All providers work this way.. it's why you get a free phone on contract.

Or you could have gone into any high street phone dealer (or any one of a dozen websites) and had them unlock it for you, but of course you'd still be bound to the contract anyway. Quite common practice to upgrade a phone is to buy a payT phone, pay £10 for the unlock and stick your old SIM in it.

iphone is different - You paid for it already, but O2 will never unlock it even after the end of the contract (they say in the contract they won't) and even if they did apple won't let you use it because they've added an extra activation stage. This is clearly the wrong side of the current legislation.. but it's going to take a while before the regulator gets off their arse and does something. Well done for the germans for being the first to challenge this.

[EagerDragon]

Sounds like double standards and sour grapes.

Apple will get more publicity out of this, there maybe a lull in sales and people are going to want the phone even more. Xmas is almost here, people will kill for the phone.

It is unthinkable that Apple did not look into the German laws, however laws can be used creatively and you can twist them.

I expect this will be thrown out soon, and customers will rush to buy the phone in case there is a new injunction later.

[iPie]

I have found that all mobile telecom providers are rapacious vultures.

If they can take advantage of consumers and their customers they will (look at the anti-trust case in France - and I am sure that France is not an isolated case).

The only time consumers have actually benefited has been when the regulators have stepped in to control collusion like practices (like the 5 euro "service fee" to charge your cell phone in Italy).

I am just happy that for once they are going after each other, and the iPhone.

I just can't believe how iPhone users can be fond of monopolies and vilify them in the same breath when speaking of Microsoft.

I love my macs, but iPhone... ...I am not so fond of this particular kind of market penetration.

[edesignuk]

Originally Posted by superleccy

My guess is that Vodafone turned down the iPhone in Germany and other markets because it didn't like (or couldn't afford) Apple's terms.

Shares in the world's largest mobile operator soared by more than 7.5% after it raised its sales and profits forecasts on the back of strong growth in emerging markets.

...

In Europe, demand for data service such as broadband web access surged. By September 30 Vodafone had 19.7 million 3G customers in Europe, and data revenues grew by 40%.

Vodafone now expects revenue of between £34.5bn and £35.1bn for the year to March 2008, up from an earlier forecast of £33.3bn to £34.1m. Operating profits are expected to reach £9.5bn to £9.9bn, up from between £9.3bn and £9.8bn.

Guardian.

I think they just might be able to afford it. What they won't like is giving Apple a big slice of the pie, and rightly so.

[christian_k]

A few notes on this from me, living in Germany:

- This incident is taken very serious by the media. It was reported in the news on major radio and tv stations in Germany.
- Vodafone said, the incunction _does_ give them the power to halt iPhone sales be T-mobile - But they had decided not to do so at the moment.
- T-Mobile now has two weeks to react on the injunction. If they do - what is very likely - there will be a court hearing withing a very short time and a court decision within about four weeks (accelerated court procedure). Hearings at higher courts may follow, of course.
- No information yet about the reasons for the injunction or what
paragraphs of German (or European) law might be violated.
- No comments from T-Mobile, yet.

Christian

[alFR]

Originally Posted by TonyHoyle

Nokia don't... Orange locked it. You could have phoned Orange and got the unlock code after you'd paid off the subsidy (normally defined as when the contract ended).

Well, technically speaking Nokia supplied Orange with a 6310 with a custom, locked firmware on it and then Orange supplied it to me under contract, yes. Perhaps I should have said Nokia supply locked 'phones to network operators.

[cal6n]

And so, the mid-game begins...

[dextertangocci]

GOOD!!!

I am very against being locked into a network. There are no locked cellphones in South Africa and it's so nice to just put in any other GSM carrier's sim card into the phone when you travel overseas

[Phutchi]

I'm all for lower prices, shorter contracts, no cancellation fees, but I just don't get all the fuss over the iPhone being exclusive to a certain carrier.

[TonyHoyle]

Moving faster than I thought:

http://money.cnn.com/news/newsfeeds/...1_FORTUNE5.htm

Unlocked iphones in europe by Wednesday (alternatively Tmobile my just decide to pull it off the market for a couple of weeks).