Vodafone gets restraining order agains T-Mobile for selling iPhones in Germany

[Fire14]

Vodafone Gets Restraining Order on T-Mobile's iPhone Sales

DUESSEL_DORF -(Dow Jones)- The German unit of Vodafone Group has obtained a restraining order against Deutsche Telekom's T-Mobile unit prohibiting the German telecommunications giant from selling Apple's iPhone in Germany.

The restraining order was issued by a regional court in Hamburg Monday, a Vodafone Deutschland spokesman told Dow Jones Newswires.

Vodafone is questioning Deutsche Telekom's iPhone sales practices, the spokesman said. Deutsche Telekom is marketing the iPhone exclusively in Germany.

Specifically, Vodafone is questioning the iPhone's exclusive use in T-Mobile's network and the use of the device being limited to certain fees within T-Mobile's subscription offerings.

Vodafone isn't generally opposed to T-Mobile's exclusivity contract with Apple, but wants to have these new sales practices examined, the spokesman said. The restraining order doesn't aim at a total sales stop, he added.

A spokesman for T-Mobile Monday confirmed the restraining order has been issued, adding that the company is examining the issue. So far, it is too early to comment on possible consequences for the company, he said.


A spokesman for the Hamburg-based court wasn't immediately available to comment.

Vodafone Gets Restraining Order on T-Mobile's iPhone Sales

[Andy]

Wirelessly posted (Mozilla/4.1 (compatible; MSIE 6.0; ) 400x240 LGE VX10000)

i didnt think they could actually get the court to issue the restraining order. i hope that this may not hurt vodafone more than they may gain by taking this issue to court!

[nKrypteD1]

German courts are a it odd, this wont stand long though I don't believe.

[Fire14]

Update: Iphone Injunction Exclusive to Germany Says Vodafone
(Adds further detail and comment.)

Vodafone Group, the world's largest mobile phone operator by revenue, Tuesday said that it has no plans to issue further injunctions against rivals exclusively selling Apple's iPhone, after earlier doing so against Deutsche Telekom's T-Mobile in Germany.

We're not taking any plans to replicate these actions anywhere else, or in the U.K.," a spokesman for Vodafone Group PLC told Dow Jones Newswires Tuesday. "It's a different regulatory environment. We believe it's more to do with a breach of local German laws."

Vodafone Deutschland, a unit of Vodafone Group PLC, said late Monday that it has asked a Hamburg court to review Deutsche Telekom's exclusive marketing rights to the iPhone.

A T-Mobile spokesperson late Monday confirmed that Deutsche Telekom had received the injunction and would examine it.

The preliminary injunction filed in Hamburg doesn't mean Telekom will have to cease marketing the product immediately, Vodafone said.

Vodafone has objected to the iPhone being restricted for use only on Telekom's T-Mobile networks. It also questioned Telekom's fare packages for the iPhone, which are limited to just three.

Vodafone Deutschland head Friedrich Joussen said in an interview in Tuesday's Frankfurter Rundschau newspaper that his company isn't seeking to sell the iPhone itself.

"We want the iPhone to be available to everyone without being tied to a contract," Joussen said, quoted by the newspaper.

Apple Chief Executive Steve Jobs has offered the iPhone exclusively to one operator in each of the countries that it has launched, in a bid to secure a percentage of mobile phone usage revenues from the mobile phone operators.

Traditionally, mobile phone operators have not shared revenues with handset makers. However, the attractiveness of the iPhone has led to AT&T in the U.S., Telefonica's O2 in the U.K. and Deutsche Telekom's T-Mobile in Germany entering into revenue sharing deals, believed to be around 10% of call and data revenue in each case.

Apple tried to secure a similar exclusive deal in France with France Telecom's mobile operator Orange, but due to French consumer law other telecommunications companies have been selling the iPhone, offering contracts with rival operators Bouygues Telecom, the telecom division of Bouygues, and Virgin Mobile.



Apple was not immediately available for comment Tuesday.

Update: Iphone Injunction Exclusive to Germany Says Vodafone

[Fire14]

T-Mobile to Change iPhone Marketing After Court Order

T-Mobile Deutschland, a unit of Deutsche Telekom has been requested in a court order to change its marketing for Apple's iPhone handset by Wednesday at the latest, a spokesman for T-Mobile told Dow Jones Newswires Tuesday.

This request will remain in force until a hearing at a Hamburg court, expected in two weeks, the spokesman said.

The order comes after Vodafone Deutschland, a unit of Vodafone filed for an injunction with a Hamburg court, asking for a review of T-Mobile Deutschland's marketing rights to Apple's iPhone in Germany.

Vodafone objects to the fact that the iPhone can be used only on Deutsche Telekom's T-Mobile networks, and it has questioned Telekom's three pricing packages, all of which are tied to two-year contracts between the phone user and T-Mobile.

The court injunction, a copy of which was seen by Dow Jones Newswires, says T-Mobile is prohibited from offering the iPhone "if it is only offered in combination with a mobile phone contract ... running at least 24 months."

The prohibition also applies if the iPhone offered by Deutsche Telekom comes with a 'SIM-lock,' a technical restriction which means the handset can only be used to access T-Mobile's network, and thus if "the buyers can't, if required, without preconditions and free of charge, unlock it," the injunction said.

Vodafone also questions Apple getting a share of revenue arising out of from Deutsche Telekom's iPhone sales in Germany.

Vodafone hasn't demanded that T-Mobile stop selling the iPhone. However a court spokeswoman said Tuesday that T-Mobile isn't allowed to continue to sell it under the original conditions.

In a statement earlier Tuesday, T-Mobile said sales of the iPhone are continuing, and that it would comply with the conditions set in the injunction.

If it failed to comply with the court order, the company could otherwise face penalties including a possible EUR250,000 fine, the court said.

Vodafone has said it mainly wants a legal assessment of the marketing agreement between iPhone's manufacturer Apple and Telekom. In principle, Vodafone doesn't have a problem with Telekom being the exclusive sales partner for the iPhone in Germany, a Vodafone spokesman told Dow Jones Newswires Monday.

Vodafone Group, the world's largest mobile phone operator by revenue, isn't making "any plans to replicate these actions anywhere else, or in the U.K.," a spokesman told Dow Jones Newswires Tuesday. "It's a different regulatory environment. We believe it's more to do with a breach of local German laws."

T-Mobile to Change iPhone Marketing After Court Order