I had an interesting conversation with a friend today regarding the recent announcement of France Telecom’s Orange and their pricing of the iPhone. According to sources, you’ll be able to purchase the iPhone unlocked for 749 EUR (649 for the phone, another 100 for the on-the-spot unlocking). Of course, you’ll still be hooked into a contract with Orange, but at least your iPhone will be unlocked, right?
Am I the only one who thinks that US iPhone owners should be IRATE? Here in the States, we’ve had the iPhone through 3 firmware updates, all of which relocked our iPhones, along with a warning from Jobs that Apple would continue to work against the unlockers. Officially, unlocking your iPhone in the US means a voided warranty, because apparently doing so could seriously damage your handset.
However, in France, it’s not only easy, it’s officially offered and endorsed. Rumor has it that they’ll be using iTunes to perform the unlock, as well! So somewhere between the US and France, Apple’s iPhone became safe to unlock? Does anyone else think that US owners should be marching themselves down to every Apple and AT&T store to demand their iPhone be unlocked on the spot, since it’s obviously able to be done?
Frankly I’m surprised there’s not more todo about the whole thing.
French consumer laws dictate that the phone be offered in an unlocked version. No such law exists in the US, while Apple’s deal with AT&T presumably includes a clause forbidding them from actively unlocking or selling unlocked iPhones, as it would undermine the operator’s “exclusive” a bit…
I don’t know that it would undermine the exclusivity. Even in France, you still have to purchase the device from Orange to begin with.
In any case, I simply think it’s rotten that in the U.S., Jobs states that the iPhone can’t be safely unlocked and actively and publicly works against unlockers, while in France, it’s obvious that Apple could really easily unlock the iPhone, and still (presumably) turn a profit, even without the monthly revenue sharing.
This really isn’t an iPhone issue, as once AT&T agrees on this they have to offer unlocking for all other phones, not to mention T-mobile. This is further compounded by the fact that many phones have customized firmware versions, so unlocking will unlock the voice part, but it does not mean that you can change the default home page of your browser or any other data specific configurations.