iPhone Orange Details Emerge. Apple Takes 10% of Revenue - But for How Long?

Wed, 08/22/2007 - 11:18am — Seth Weintraub

The big iPhone news today is what appears to be certain confirmation of the mobile operator deals for iPhone in Germany, France, and the UK. What remains to be seen is the feasibility and longevity of these exclusivity deals, given the differences in European laws and U.S. ones.

We talked to an employee at Orange in Paris about details of their agreement with Apple to carry the iPhone.

1. He reiterated that Apple is going to get 10% of the revenue from Orange. However, French Law states that after 6 months, you can take your phone to another provider (you can also keep your number - like in the US). The initial provider must allow the phone to be moved and provide whatever access codes necessary to move it. The iPhone will still be sold with a 2 year plan...so that will be interesting to see play out.

Because of this, we speculate Apple may only collect from Orange for 6 months. Apple and Orange may get around this at least in the short-term by offering only 2-year plans, but after 6 months a user could pay an early termination fee and move on. Additionally, the illegal unlocking of iPhones could therefore be a significant revenue risk for Apple, since operators other than Orange would, by law, have the right to have the iPhone on their network. The link below has more information about the French law and its implications.

http://www.minefi.gouv.fr/directions_services/dgccrf/documentation/fiches_pratiques/fiches/b31.htm
Le déverrouillage d’un terminal

Le verrouillage de la carte SIM est un procédé autorisé en France pour dissuader les fraudeurs et les voleurs d’écouler les terminaux en France ou à l’étranger. Il empêche d’utiliser un terminal sur un autre réseau que celui qui a fourni la carte SIM. Néanmoins, passé un délai de 6 mois, les opérateurs sont tenus de fournir gratuitement le code permettant au client, sur simple demande de sa part, de déverrouiller l’appareil.

Or for you Anglophiles: Unlocking a mobile device

Locking a SIM card is an authorized procedure in France to dissuade from the fraudulent selling of mobile devices in France or abroad. It prevents the use of a device on a network other than that which provided the SIM card. Nevertheless, after a period of 6 months, operators are to freely provide the code which permits the consumer, upon a simple request on his part, to unlock the device.

Don’t you wish you lived in a country whose government wasn’t controlled by communications lobbyists? :D

2. Germany will likely be around a month ahead of France in the rollout. The source speculated a November rollout for TMobile in Germany and a holiday rollout in France. O2s rollout in the UK was not known first-hand but will also likely be ahead of France.

3. There was no mention of a GPS, 3G or memory differences – not that those won’t come out. This confers with this report which lays out the case by showing the huge investment in network - $8Billion.

4. The EU has different laws and regulations about closed operating systems - which means that Apple's embedded iPhone OSX will have to be made available to developers - it already is in hacked form. Because, in Europe, it is legal to install applications on the OS, developers can sell and distribute their wares, without worry about being sued by Apple Legal for copyright violations. This will certainly open the door to more third party applications.

5. He mentioned the possibility that Orange would also be able to carry the iPhone in the UK, as it was originally a UK-based company (until bought out by France Telecom in 2000) and still operates a subsidiary there. Also, EU laws about roaming price caps for voice and data that may make the national borders issue moot, anyway. http://europa.eu/scadplus/leg/en/lvb/l24276.htm

It is very likely that Apple could announce the terms of the deal with the European carriers at Berlin’s IFA Consumer Electronics show in Berlin (August 31st – September 5th). Our bets are on next month’s Apple Expo in Paris. (September 25-29th). It is not known if they plan on releasing a 3G version of the iPhone Stateside, alongside the European edition. We can only hope!

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Comments

what about me :-(

Wed, 08/22/2007 - 3:47pm — jan99 (not verified)

i live in holland and need i i-phone.
There is more in europe than uk germany france... what about the rest!

Must .... have .... phone...

iPhone in Holland? Why???

Thu, 08/23/2007 - 2:52pm — MaCynical (not verified)

[quote=jan99]i live in holland and need i i-phone.
There is more in europe than uk germany france... what about the rest!

Must .... have .... phone... [/quote]

Don't worry — the one thing You'll need most urgently in the next 10-20 years in Holland is a comfortable boat. :-)

Does anyone else feel

Wed, 08/22/2007 - 7:09pm — Spoon (not verified)

Does anyone else feel slightly betrayed that the iPhone is indeed 3G in Europe? I'm kinda peeved by this fact. Good thing I haven't bought one yet.

Maybe we'll get lucky and this will signal an earlier arrival of 3G iPhones in the U.S.

only six month and then???

Wed, 08/22/2007 - 10:51pm — donlphi (not verified)

What will happen to their visual voicemail? I know that seems like a small price to pay for faster data, but the visual voicemail has become a part of me. I can now delete messages from drunk friends without listening to them spilling a word.

This will have a significant effect on how swiftly things move out here in the U.S.

I predict that AT&T will start offering a 3G solution about halfway through the two year contract, which will require yet another 2 year contract.

So 3G in the U.S. by July

Emmm, let's consider something

Thu, 08/23/2007 - 5:42am — kvaugh (not verified)

I seem to remember reading a number of reports online at various sites about a housing re-design for different regions, maybe a thicker housing to accommodate a larger battery (after all 3G is power hungary!)

I also seem to remember a report that Apple reduced its initial order of 9M units to 4.5M units (Apple shares took a hit).

Lets consider also the reports coming from the US that EDGE is not all that great!

Is a 3G phone about to emerge! Reports, rumors etc... would seem to suggest that this maybe the case.

We all know that europe countries have invested heavily in 3G technology and are even offering Broadband services through this mechanism.

Time will tell. Personally, being from Ireland I want an iPhone. I am surprised that Ireland has not mentioned much in rumors considering that Ireland has more mobiles per head of population of any other european country!

Other country please.

Thu, 08/23/2007 - 5:53am — michael (not verified)

I am living in France so i am a lucky one for the iphone.
Anyway i hope that spain - italy and other countries in Europe will follow quickly...

One last consideration, a network sleeper!

Thu, 08/23/2007 - 5:54am — kvaugh (not verified)

Virtually all networks have been associated in europe with the iphone bar one 3!

What if apple are about to offer a 3G capable phone and what if the sleeping network became the carrier, after all they have presence a lot of european countries!

H3G sucks

Sun, 08/26/2007 - 7:35am — gnagnagna (not verified)

I sure hope not! ... H3G suxxx real bad (at least.. here in Italy) and about Orange .. I remember people making jokes in the UK about Orange's quality.. that was about 7 years ago, so maybe things have recently changed.. who knows.

I would have hoped Vodafone got the deal, that is if all this network exclusivity bullshit had really go through... don't they just make more money allowing more people access to their phone? I'm sure not switching from Vodafone, of the four networks in Italy it is the only one I'm comfortable/happy with, and that is far more important than what hardware I'm carrying around.

I can only wish the 3 is the

Tue, 08/28/2007 - 7:38am — macmanager (not verified)

I can only wish the 3 is the carrier, they are in Australia too. But I seriously doubt it, as they are not the largest in any market.

Regardless of which carrier Apple chooses, I'm likely to unlock the first 3G iPhone and use it on 3. Their data rates are really cheap, as are their calls.

Good for Apple. Better for us.

Thu, 08/23/2007 - 9:42am — gguerini (not verified)

I think thats the chance to Apple "break" the contracts with ATT. Probably, in 6 months we'll see oficial iPhone unlocked in everywhere and Apple can't do anything. This is so good for Apple. They'll sell a lot of iPhone around the world and ATT cant do anything about it. And about "This will certainly open the door to more third party applications.", its good for Apple too. They won time to think about an SDK and now is the time. The biggest "problems" about iPhone in US is a lack of Java, Flash player and another apps. Now they are mature to offer an SDK for the world. And I think, this is the real beggining to iPhone be like iPod. An sucessfull gadget. ;)
What doy you think about it?

Eh?

Thu, 08/23/2007 - 9:54am — Apple Enthusiest (not verified)

What about Canada? How come countries like the UK in Eroupe, which is much farther away than Canada get the iPhone first? When is Apple going to strike a deal with Rogers already?

Probably soon

Fri, 08/24/2007 - 6:57am — kev (not verified)

[quote=Apple Enthusiest]What about Canada? How come countries like the UK in Eroupe, which is much farther away than Canada get the iPhone first? When is Apple going to strike a deal with Rogers already?[/quote]

Probably mid to late 2008, but Rogers' data rates are too high. Well, for me anyway. But Rogers is the only network in Canada that CAN carry the iPhone, so we'll just have to suck it up.

But canada will come sooner rather than later, and it will probably be driven by the users who cross the border all the time and want their phones to work. Or maybe I'm wrong and Rogers is already able to carry a roaming US-based iPhone, I don't know.

I'm not too concerned myself, I might get a touchscreen ipod with osx, but not an iPhone. Yes, i think it's pretty freakin' cool, but hey, I think spaceships are pretty cool too and I'm not getting one of those either!

Spaceship

Fri, 08/24/2007 - 9:55am — Apple Enthusiest (not verified)

Yah, the iSpaceship! Comes with coverflow and spacetravel (Not avalible in Canada untill a year later) D'oh!

orange ? oh no !

Mon, 08/27/2007 - 9:54am — few (not verified)

orange is a brand of f...g France Telecom >> it means low services, high prices. i'm very disapointed. i'm voting for a free iPhone for France too.

Totally Unreliable Report

Mon, 08/27/2007 - 2:22pm — Dr. Benway (not verified)

Anyone who has EVER dealt with Apple knows about the level of secrecy they insist upon - in every aspect of the relationship. A deal point as crucial as the piece of the action the mobile company would pay to Apple would never, never, never be disclosed by an official of the mobile company to a reporter. Never. This report might as well have purported to give a confirmed date and time sighting of the Loch Ness Monster. Zero cred.

wait and see.

Mon, 08/27/2007 - 4:02pm — admin

wait and see.

Pissed off

Thu, 09/06/2007 - 12:31pm — Santz24 (not verified)

Ok now im pissed off. No news on Spain/Italy etc etc? Why do those three countries get it first? its not like people in other countries aren't dying for it either!

How 'bout Denmark?

Mon, 09/10/2007 - 5:03am — Bill (not verified)

How 'bout Denmark?

Only in Greenland

Mon, 09/10/2007 - 6:14am — macmanager (not verified)

Only in Greenland

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