Josh OngGerman Mac site Macerkopf.de received word Tuesday of Vodafone's plans (Google Translation) for an Oct. 28 iPhone 4 launch in Germany, ending the iPhone exclusivity of Deutsche Telekom. The iPhone 4 would come locked to the Vodafone network. According to the report, Vodafone would begin showing ads for the smartphone on Oct. 18.
The report also expects O2 to begin distributing an unlocked iPhone 4 in Germany soon, but no launch dates were given for O2.
Deutsche Telekom, which is T-Mobile's parent company, is Germany's largest mobile provider with 37 million customers in Germany. Second-place Vodafone has 34.9 million and O2 has 16.3 million.
Earlier reports had suggested that the iPhone would become multi-carrier as early as October.
For its part, Deutsche Telekom is preparing for the loss of iPhone exclusivity by offering discounts (Google Translation) on its plans. The T-Mobile iPhone 4 promotion launched last week with a 10 percent discount on monthly fees for the first year of the two-year contract.
Apple and carriers have faced opposition to the use of exclusive contracts in Europe. In 2007, a German court ordered Deutsche Telekom to sell the iPhone unlocked and without a contract after Vodafone filed a complaint.
"We want the iPhone to be available to everyone without being tied to a contract," said Vodafone Deutschland chief executive Friedrich Joussen.
In 2008, a French court ruled that an exclusive deal between Apple and France Telecom's Orange was in violation of local freedom of competition and pricing laws. After the ruling, the iPhone's market share in France jumped to the 40 percent range.
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"After the ruling, the iPhone's market share in France jumped to the 40 percent range."
I'll see your 40 percent rage and raise it to 50 percent when the iPhone goes multicarrier in the U.S.
Aren't all phones in germany unlocked as it is...i thought it was a law
Unfortunately not, the only mandatory thing in Germany is that carriers have to unlock devices on request once the subsidized period is over, that is after 24 months in most cases. This is not bad, at least you can then resell an officially unlocked device and get a better price for it (I literally got all iPhones after the first one for free, even after paying early termination fees for swapping the unit after 12 months). Of course, a device unlocked from day one would be better.
There are some European countries with better (more consumer-friendly) laws like France (where an official unlock must be offered from day one, but they can charge a fee), or Belgium, where devices must be unlocked. Germany is not really ahead of the rest here.
Anyhow, there is a rumor that O2 will offer the device without any locks once they enter the game. Vodafone as a competitor will not do much, as their prices and tariffs are almost 100% identical to those of T-Mobile and the networks are basically identical in quality and coverage (data is a tiny bit faster on Vodafone, but they have no extensive network of hotspots while T-Mobile gives you free access to the biggest selection of hotspots in Germany and their iPhone includes a free Navigon turn-by-turn application for Germany, Austria and Switzerland). So, there is no major reason for swapping to Vodafone as far as I can see. I hate T-Mobile's customer support, but then, I barely need it.
The best part of this development is that there are rumors that T-Mobile will improve the existing iPhone plans to be better positioned, rumors point to free weekends and some included free minutes to other mobile networks (most current flats here do only cover calls to landline phones and other T-Mobile cellphones). So, there should be some upside for all users.
The iPhone 4 is available subsidized from Movistar (Telefónica), Orange (France Telecom) and Vodafone.
"Cuando compres tu iPhone en Apple Online Store, lo recibirás desbloqueado. AsÃ* podrás registrarte para recibir servicio con el operador que elijas y cambiarlo en cualquier momento."
When you buy your iPhone in the Apple Online Store, you will receive it unblocked. You can register it to receive service with the operator you choose and change it anytime.
16 GB 599 Â?, 32 GB 699 Â?, tax included, free delivery.
Apple and carriers have faced opposition to the use of exclusive contracts in Europe. In 2007, a German court ordered Deutsche Telekom to sell the iPhone unlocked and without a contract after Vodafone filed a complaint.
there should be more opposition to the at&t monopoly here in the united states. they have us by the short ones. was in london recently. stopped in to both t-mobile and 3. if you spend at least £60 (~ $95) a month on a two year contract the iphone 4 is free. if you're spending less than that then the phone is £29. their monthly plans are very reasonable. and they have [gasp!] data-only plans.
that's the way it should be. how about a little competition, steve?
when roaming internationally, at&t charges $19.98/MB for data. i popped a t-mobile sim into my legally unblocked 3GS. had 5+ days of unlimited 3G data for £2.50 (exactly $4.08). used over 200MB of data. which is the better deal: $4.08 or over-pay at&t $4,000 for data roaming?
Unfortunately not, the only mandatory thing in Germany is that carriers have to unlock devices on request once the subsidized period is over, that is after 24 months in most cases. This is not bad, at least you can then resell an officially unlocked device and get a better price for it (I literally got all iPhones after the first one for free, even after paying early termination fees for swapping the unit after 12 months). Of course, a device unlocked from day one would be better.
There are some European countries with better (more consumer-friendly) laws like France (where an official unlock must be offered from day one, but they can charge a fee), or Belgium, where devices must be unlocked. Germany is not really ahead of the rest here.
There is NO such law in Germany. Remember when T-Mobile Germany won that lawsuit --- T-Mobile announced that they would VOLUNTARILY unlocked the iphone at the end of contract.
French regulators are IDIOTIC --- French consumers are screwed because they have only 3 national carriers in France. They didn't sell a 4th national wireless license until Dec 2009 (and the 4th carrier isn't operational yet). It doesn't matter whether you can buy the iphone unlocked from all the carriers --- when they all screwed you with monthly plans (which all 3 national carriers were fined for price fixing about 5 years ago).
Belgium NO LONGER has that anti-bundling law --- it was struck down by the European Court of Justice. That anti-bundling law is IDIOTIC anyway because it affected the whole economy. The two cases that finally struck down this idiotic law was (1) a petro company sued the government because it was not allowed to give a free 3 week towing insurance to drivers who filled up their cars with gasoline and (2) a fashion magazine company sued the government because it was not allowed to include coupons for discount for lingeries. Cell phone geeks (who live with their parents and don't pay for housing, food and utilities) cried about how sad it was that the law was struck down in Belgium. For the rest of us who live in the real world --- killing this idiotic law makes a million things cheaper in Belgium.