Germany to get unlocked iPhone

Source: Technology Digital

Date :21/11/2007 10:19:44

After last month’s news that Orange will sell both locked and unlocked iPhones in France, it has emerged that Germany, thanks to Vodafone, will get them too.

Vodafone has won a German court injunction preventing Apple from handing T-Mobile exclusive rights to sell the iPhone.

A court in Hamburg approved the injunction to rival Vodafone, which had hoped to win an exclusive pan-European deal to sell the iPhone but lost out to T-Mobile in Germany, O2 in the UK and Orange in France. However, to comply with French law, Orange must sell unlocked handsets as well.

No comment

A T-Mobile spokesman declined to comment specifically on the company's options, but says the company will object to the injunction.

At the moment, consumers in the UK have no option but to pay £269 for an iPhone from O2 and then sign an 18-month contract. There is unofficial software around which unlocks the device, but this voids the warranty.

Vodafone has stated that it does not intend to mount a legal challenge in the UK.

November 21, 2007