Orange to sell contract-free iPhone for 649 euro plus 100 euro unlocking fee
by Thomas Ricker 
posted Nov 28th 2007 at 4:59AM
France Telecom just announced that the iPhone will go on sale tonight at 6:30pm (18.30) at a dozen of its Orange stores across France. It will charge between €49 ($72) and €119 ($175) per month in addition to the €399 cost of the iPhone itself. Orange customers can unlock their iPhone for another €100 on the spot or free after 6 months -- though they're still locked into an Orange contract of 1 or 2 years. The iPhone will also be sold Update: Ah, clarity: AFP reports that an unlocked iPhone will cost €749 -- €649 for phone and €100 for unlocking. See, that wasn't so hard.
Filed under: Cellphones, Portable Audio, Portable Video
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Sphynx @ Nov 28th 2007 5:04AM
"It's definitely cheaper than the unlocked German iPhone"
Yeah - surprise, surprise...
pscs @ Dec 4th 2007 1:05PM
either buy the iphone for 649eur and wait for 6 months and get free unlock or hack it yourself. then 6 months later, "revirginise it" and send it back to Orange for a legit unlock :) simple.
oh yeah, it's a whopping 250eur cheaper than the german unlocked iphones (now no longer available). 250e = +-$360, so you can almost get another 1 in the US.
waiownsyou @ Nov 28th 2007 5:04AM
Wow. The French and German are gonna be psyched when they get their hands on the iPhone, then they're like, "OMGWTFBBQ.. EDGE?! [Profanity in their respective language] you, Apple!!"
LordFarkward @ Nov 28th 2007 5:27AM
so you're saying that the french and germans are so stupid that they didn't know the specs of the iphone before they bought it? that they're also being forced to buy something that they don't want?
Carbonize @ Nov 28th 2007 5:12AM
And still only half as useful as most normal phones out there.
PMK @ Nov 28th 2007 5:15AM
Well there is another phone provider called debitel. If you buy an unlocked iphone in germany for 999 EUR they will give you a refund of 600 EUR if you sign a phone contract with them.
See here (Only in german available):
http://www.heise.de/newsticker/meldung/99649
Carbonize @ Nov 28th 2007 5:34AM
You mean like http://www.engadget.com/2007/11/27/debitel-offering-600-euro-sign-up-bonus-for-999-euro-iphone-in-g/
waba @ Nov 28th 2007 5:43AM
OK.. some other mistakes.
Here is the deal :
You can buy your iphone with a 2 year or 1 year contract. You pay your locked iphone 399euros. You can then unlock it for 100 euros right now (useless indeed) or free of charge after 6 months (interesting if you just have a one year plan, or want to keep your iphone and switch operator once your contract is over).
You can buy your locked iphone with a plan that has no duration (meaning you can leave Orange anytime without penalty) for 549 euros. The same as above applies : if you unlock it right now, it'll cost you 100 euros, if you wait 6 months, it will be free of charge.
You can buy an unlocked iphone for 649 euros: same as if you buy a locked one with no plan at all, plus the 100 euros to unlock it right away.
Got it?
Vasilis @ Nov 28th 2007 5:43AM
I don't think there is any confusion really. It makes sense that Apple is getting a cut only from the "iPhone specific tariffs", in order to make up for that lost revenue if someone chooses a different tariff they just sell the phone for a higher price. So it looks like Apple is asking 649€ per iPhone and Orange gives you back 100€ if you buy an iPhone from them and stick with them (subsidy). This way of doing things sounds a lot more similar to what happens with the rest of the mobiles in Europe.
danny @ Nov 28th 2007 5:47AM
so, is the iphone one of the very few (if not the only) electrical gadget of it's type sold in many years that doesn't have a language option? surely the only difference between the french iphone and any other is that it's in... french? so is 'language' not an option on the iphone's settings?
i'm not being sarcastic btw, i honestly want to know.
eurobloke @ Nov 28th 2007 7:10AM
Err, you can change the language of the phone into English. The phone is done in English, French, German, Spanish, & Italian. Just go into the setting menu.
thom @ Nov 28th 2007 6:04AM
And its also available from other phone companies
http://www.phoneandphone.com/mobiles_27_Apple.html
pscs @ Nov 28th 2007 6:42AM
it's still too expensive! you can get 2 'normal' iphones in US with 165$ change!
Ike Turner @ Nov 28th 2007 6:42AM
Just to make it simple....
A legaly unlocked iPhone in france costs: 749€ (1114$)
John @ Nov 28th 2007 2:31PM
technically, a legally unlocked iPhone costs whatever the phone costs sans contract... no matter what else myths companies try to propagate, it's still legal for you to unlock your own phone. But yeah, that's the cost if you really want Apple and the carriers to know how thankful you are for giving you the privilege of buying their product...
pscs @ Nov 28th 2007 6:45AM
it says 749eur here at yahoo: http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20071128/tc_afp/francetelecomequipinternetconsumercompanyapple
Andrew Pearson @ Nov 28th 2007 6:47AM
so does that mean it'll work ok in the UK?
Matt L @ Nov 28th 2007 7:22AM
what us AT&T going to do about this? Aren't they going to be upset that you can get an unlocked phone from apple and have it sent stateside?
cashmonee @ Nov 28th 2007 11:32AM
Nothing. I really doubt they care about the 5 people willing to pay well over $1000 to buy an unlocked iPhone.
NUHusky001 @ Nov 28th 2007 7:46AM
So... has anyone tried to buy a German/French iPhone, unlock it and then ship it to the US? Is there anything that would make this a 'no-go'? (Technically, not legally) Cause if this works, then ebay.com should be seeing these within a few weeks.
skyone @ Nov 28th 2007 1:39PM
I bought one but I wouldn't dare send any of them anywhere. So far none of these "official" unlocks are really working, neither with the other German networks, nor with the "foreign" sims I have tested so far. T-Mobile/Apple seem to have trouble to deal with this.
The only thing that is seriously working at the moment is the jailbreak / anysim unlock for 1.1.1. No problems there at all... I would be laughing the whole day if this wouldn't be so completely stupid...
I really like to thank those guys that made the jailbreak possible - not only for the great progs, but really for the only working SIM-UNLOCK that is out there.... I couldn't care less if the warranty is void...
Jacob Varghese @ Nov 28th 2007 8:03AM
Damn weak Dollar!!!!
749 euros = $1,123
pikkoz @ Nov 28th 2007 9:06AM
Well for that price i'd rather buy an HTC Kaiser with included Tomtom europe Maps and i would have still left some pocket money with a real smartphone.
danny @ Nov 28th 2007 10:23AM
ah, my favourite type of pointless comment.
"£20 for a steak!? sheesh! i'd rather get the chicken with the sauce for £14, and have enough for a dessert as well!"
Lars @ Jan 14th 2008 3:16PM
Wow, way to drive the point home. iPhone being the steak, which is often tough, chewy, bloody, all-in-all not very tasty. Yet people hype up steak, saying it's "delicious" or "what real men eat." Chicken tastes better, is healthier, and cheaper, plus there's some kind of extra sauce included which hopefully involves biscuits too... mmmmm, sign me up.
Bee Hatch @ Nov 28th 2007 9:39AM
$100 is not for the unlocking. That's for the companies bottom line. Cost for them to unlock = $0.
Guillem @ Nov 28th 2007 10:53AM
here's one question from spain...
Can I cross the border and buy a legally unlocked iPhone (749€) in France? I mean, do you need to be french, have a house in france or anything similar? I'm not sure, 'cause Orange's minisite for the iPhone says you need several documents to buy one...
I might have misunderstood, my french is pretty basic, so here's the link: http://iphone.orange.fr
g3n3tix @ Nov 28th 2007 12:37PM
yep, I am French, it appears you need a proof that you live in France, and ID, and Credit Card, but usually this is for when you open up a contract. They asked the same when my brother got a new contract + phone. They don't say what you (don't?) need to buy an unlocked one. Anyway, they'll be out of stock for some time I think. (look on ebay.fr the number of people selling ipod touchs...)
just wait a bit till thnigs get clearer...OR you could ask French friends to buy one for you.
I bet you are not the only one to want to do this...
Big Daddy Bane @ Nov 28th 2007 3:15PM
ok so I have a dumb/blunt question...and pls don't flame me...could i buy one of these "legally" unlocked iphones ship it to the states and use it on tmobiles' network oh and I don't speak french and I only know german swear words! is it possible to accomplish all of this and use itunes, the ever popular EDGE...:P, and oh sans vis voicemail of course! thanks for the clarification
Bob @ Nov 28th 2007 3:28PM
Haven't we had enough of this iphone crap........geez
yeah yeah ..go on ....give me a low rank ....
iPodGuru @ Nov 28th 2007 5:07PM
Seems like unlocking is big bussiness for but I keep my iphone as it is I use http://www.ipodtunesdownloads.com for music and movie downloads for my iphone and ipod
Delvis343 @ Nov 28th 2007 7:13PM
Thats great! Now, when is my 3G iPhone with 16GB of flash memory coming?
Capitanmerloc @ Dec 4th 2007 11:23AM
I went to the orange shope in france and yes the deal is true and it works... but...
technically you cannot unlock it unless you are in france or for some reason you have a french credit card!
To unlock the phone you need to register it and this is done through Itunes. Itunes has a regional filter and is based on the credit cards. In other words I cannot open a US itunes account unless I have a US credit card. Vice versa you cannot have a french account on Itunes unless you have a credit card issued in a french bank. As you cannot register your Iphone through Itunes France you cannot unlock it using the code provided by orange...
Result... if you want to use the Iphone and you are not french you are screwed!
anonymous @ Feb 22nd 2008 10:14AM
can I unlock a us iphone using the french registered itunes? then u wouldnt have to even go to france!