Print this article | E-mail this article | Comment on this article

Unlocked iPhones to take a bite out of France's wallets

By Tim Conneally, BetaNews

November 28, 2007, 3:44 PM

Apple and French carrier Orange are launching the iPhone at 6:30 pm (1830 h) local time, with twelve stores opening after hours to accommodate the expected rush of customers.

The price for a fully unlocked iPhone in France is €749 ($1105 USD). With a two-year service contract, the iPhone is slated to cost €399. The Orange division of France Telecom reportedly has 63,000 individuals registered on its site receiving updates about the device.

French law states that all phones must be freely unlockable after six months anyway, so customers who buy the unlocked version are essentially paying a €100 penalty for not having a plan with Orange.

Specially-tailored iPhone plans with unlimited visual voicemail, emails, and internet browsing range from €49 for 120 minutes of talk time plus 120 minutes nights and weekends with 50 SMS messages to €119 for 480 minutes normal talk time, 480 night and weekend minutes and 1000 SMS messages. Plans also cover connections in the over 30,000 Orange Wi-Fi hotspots.

Orange's site will be updated with launch details.

Add a Comment (1 Comment)

BetaNews reserves the right to remove any comment at any time for any reason. Please keep your responses appropriate and on topic. Foul language and personal attacks will not be tolerated.

By BMallory

posted Nov 29, 2007 - 3:32 AM

Let me clarify a little :
If you want an unlocked iphone and if you live in france you have two ways :
1- buy an unlocked iphone for 749€
or
2- buy an Orange locked iphone and wait 6 month. you will then have the right to ask Orange to unlock your phone.

Score: 0

Nov 21 - 6:51 PM ET Coalition urges better laws for e-mail and cell phone privacy

Nov 21 - 6:42 PM ET How is Internet advertising faring in this bad economy?

Nov 21 - 6:15 PM ET From out of the Amazon Cloud, an AWS winner emerges

Nov 21 - 5:20 PM ET Mufin music finder enters public beta, adds widgets

Nov 21 - 5:01 PM ET Google launches its SearchWiki semantics plug-in

Nov 21 - 4:57 PM ET Asus previews a slimmer, less costly Eee PC

Nov 21 - 4:32 PM ET New Adobe Media Player ushers in AIR 1.5

Nov 21 - 2:11 PM ET AT&T to add Pantech's low-cost C630 phone to 3G lineup

Nov 21 - 1:11 PM ET iPhone gets firmware 2.2 update

Nov 21 - 11:51 AM ET The Dell surprise: Higher earnings on lower revenue