Apple to sell unlocked iPhone in France

After all the hoo-ha about unlocking, it looks like European users won't need to hack their iPhones at all if they want to use it on a network of their choice -- unlocked iPhones will be sold in France.

Apple announced yesterday that France Telecom (aka Orange in France) will be the exclusive operator for the Apple iPhone in France. The iPhone will be available from 29 November, for €399 with contract.

What it didn't announce was that as part of the deal, France Telecom will also be allowed to sell unlocked iPhones alongside subsidised handset sold with contracts. This is part of French law, as the France Telecom press release makes clear (albeit in French).

There were mutterings that Apple might not sell the iPhone in France as a result of this legal obligation, but it looks like it has finally given in. There's no word on pricing for the unlocked iPhone yet, but you can expect it to be rather more than €399...

The obvious hope is that anyone will be able to buy an unlocked French iPhone and use it on any network, but that presumes that the operating system will be available in languages other than French. It would be churlish (thought not unimagineable) for Apple to do this though, and I suspect that like most European smartphones, French iPhones will be reconfigurable to work in any European language.  

[ Orange France]