I went to buy an iphone 3g in an orange shop in the south of France yesterday July 23rd. They had been issued twenty five phones on the 17th sold out in two hours (the time to process the twenty five first customers).
The sales assistant told me that previous iphone users had been contacted by orange sales personnel to give them a preferential option on the new iphone 3g.
I was further informed that these customers and those buying an iPhone 3g with one of the orange subscription contracts would be given first option on the purchase of the new iPhone 3g, and then and only then, would the unlocked iPhone 3g be available for purchasers. 506 euros for the 8Gb and 606 for the 16Gb versions.
With Orange subscription the cost is advertised at 199 euros and the purchaser is locked into a contract for twenty four months. For the subscription of 49euros/month, you get 2+2 hrs /month call time, and unlimited internet access plus 50 sms.
If I were to purchase unlocked I would not get the internet access as I was given to understand.
I am unsure where this places Orange regarding French law which apparently stipulates that any mobile phone sold with a subscription contract must also be available without . It seems from my research that the iPhone 3g unlocked is not giving the customer the full service and therefore is a compromise forcing the customer to be roped into a contract of 24 months minimum duration.
I was also told that the use of an independent SIM card will not give the internet access that the Orange subscriber automatically gets in France.
My guess is that there is a bending of the law if not a flouting of it altogether. The sales assistant was unaware of the illegality of the situation.
I would be interested to know if the iPhone is a compromised version compared with the AT&T contract version in the US and indeed if anyone has any precise working knowledge of the French mobile phone legislation.
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I went to buy an iphone 3g in an orange shop in the south of France yesterday July 23rd. They had been issued twenty five phones on the 17th sold out in two hours (the time to process the twenty five first customers).
The sales assistant told me that previous iphone users had been contacted by orange sales personnel to give them a preferential option on the new iphone 3g.
I was further informed that these customers and those buying an iPhone 3g with one of the orange subscription contracts would be given first option on the purchase of the new iPhone 3g, and then and only then, would the unlocked iPhone 3g be available for purchasers. 506 euros for the 8Gb and 606 for the 16Gb versions.
With Orange subscription the cost is advertised at 199 euros and the purchaser is locked into a contract for twenty four months. For the subscription of 49euros/month, you get 2+2 hrs /month call time, and unlimited internet access plus 50 sms.
If I were to purchase unlocked I would not get the internet access as I was given to understand.
I am unsure where this places Orange regarding French law which apparently stipulates that any mobile phone sold with a subscription contract must also be available without . It seems from my research that the iPhone 3g unlocked is not giving the customer the full service and therefore is a compromise forcing the customer to be roped into a contract of 24 months minimum duration.
I was also told that the use of an independent SIM card will not give the internet access that the Orange subscriber automatically gets in France.
My guess is that there is a bending of the law if not a flouting of it altogether. The sales assistant was unaware of the illegality of the situation.
I would be interested to know if the iPhone is a compromised version compared with the AT&T contract version in the US and indeed if anyone has any precise working knowledge of the French mobile phone legislation.