Orange, the wireless arm of France Telecom, is reportedly contemplating the prospect of not being able to launch Apple Inc.'s iPhone handset in time for the holiday amid growing tensions between the two companies.
"The risk we're evaluating this week is that Apple crosses France off," Les Echos quoted a source at Orange as saying in its Friday edition.
The French daily said the difficulties stem from a French law that would require the Apple handset to be sold both with and without contracts. This law would reportedly undermine the iPhone's exclusivity for Orange and Apple's demand of up to 30 percent of voice and data revenues.
A spokesperson for France Telecom went on record last month in claiming that the carrier had reached an agreement with Apple to distribute the iPhone in France. The two firms were widely expected to announce launch plans during the final week of September along side Apple Expo Paris.
The Paris expo came and went without any such announcement, however. Meanwhile, Apple along with partners O2 and T-mobile officially announced plans to roll out the handset next month in the U.K. and Germany, respectively.