Sep 20

France Orange Wireless Wins iPhone ContractFrance Telecom and Orange have announced along with Apple that they are the exclusive Apple iPhone distributor in France.  This announcement comes in as many days after the O2 UK and T-Mobile Germany iPhone deals.  The latest deal with Orange and Apple was announced by France Telecom CEO Didier Lombard at a conference in Hanoi.

Pricing for the iPhone and release date have not been announced.  France Telecom is betting on the iPhone to boost its share of the cell phone market in France.  Steve Jobs is also hoping that with three major European markets now on board, he is looking to sell 10 million iPhones in 2008, which represents 1 percent of the global handset market.

No further announcements have been made about the current EDGE data rollout for France or whether it would include a WiFi account like the one from The Cloud in the UK.

Cell phones sold in France have to be offered in an unlocked state by a 1998 law.  Orange and Apple as of October 17th, 2007 have made a deal where the iPhone will be available in two versions.  The first version will be locked and the second unlocked.  The locked iPhone can be unlocked after six months of use on Orange.  The locked iPhone will be available for €399 Euros. The unlocked iPhone pricing has not yet been announced. Via AP.

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