Apple and carrier Orange have announced that their exclusivity agreement in France has ended prematurely, after telecoms regulators decided the deal was “a new rigidity factor in a sector that already suffers from lack of competition.” The news comes after a temporary injunction filed back in December 2008 – and later upheld in a review in February – following complaints from network rivals Bouygues Telecom and SFR.

The French exclusivity deal was apparently meant to last for five years; following the news, Orange parent France Telecom saw their share price dip 2-percent. No other French carrier has yet announced plans to offer the iPhone, though we imagine they’re all clamoring for talks with Apple.
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One Response to “French iPhone exclusivity broken after regulator decision”
GillesKlein November 3, 2009
It is not new, it was done since December 2008, and confirmed by a court ruling Feb4, 2009. This is just a confirmation agreement. Other French mobile company, SFR, is selling iPhone since a while.
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