Orange to Sell iPhone in UK; will US Exclusivity End Next?

[ComicalMoodyDan]

Orange to Sell iPhone in UK; will US Exclusivity End Next?
Ian Paul
Sep 28, 2009 9:32 am

France Telecom's mobile carrier, Orange announced on Monday that it is bringing Apple's iPhone to the U.K. by the end of the year. Orange will be the second mobile company in Britain to offer the iPhone, and takes one more country off the list of single iPhone provider nations.

Does the end of U.K. exclusivity mean the days of iPhone exclusivity in the United States are numbered? Let's take a look:

IPhone Goes Orange in Britain

Early Monday, Orange U.K. announced it will begin selling the iPhone 3G and 3GS in Britain later this year. Orange offered no firm date when sales start, nor announce any pricing dorange iphoneetails. However, the company typically prices the iPhone from $436 with an 18-month contract to free with a two-year contract, according to The Wall Street Journal .

Just like AT&T, O2 has had its share of customer complaints, and after months of speculation the British are finally getting a second iPhone carrier.

AT&T-Apple Partnership Keeps Going

Despite predictions to the contrary, the exclusive AT&T iPhone deal in the U.S. shows no signs of ending. But if pressures continue to mount, Apple may consider relenting to customer demands. It's no secret that some iPhone customers have been very vocal about their dissatisfaction with AT&T's service, and the media has put AT&T's services under a microscope ever since the iPhone was introduced.

AT&T's current rollout of multimedia messaging on the iPhone is a perfect example of the intense scrutiny the company has been under. AT&T was ridiculed for its slow adoption of MMS, which was introduced to the iPhone in June, but didn't launch on AT&T's network until last week.

Refuting the ridicule, AT&T said it took so long to get MMS ready because the company had to beef up its network. The company anticipated a major jump in network traffic once the MMS switch was flipped, and needed to make sure its network was ready. The day after MMS activation saw conflicting reports from customers complaining of poor service and those who loved MMS on the iPhone. AT&T's official line is that the MMS rollout went smoothly.

MMS on the iPhone is only a few days old, so it's hard to get a sense of what the service will be like under normal conditions once the excitement dies down. However, MMS is something AT&T has to get right. If it doesn't, the cries to end AT&T's iPhone exclusivity arrangement will only grow louder.

The iPhone Goes to Washington

But if Apple doesn't end its exclusivity deal with AT&T, the government might. In June, AT&T defended its arrangement before the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation. Soon after, the Federal Communications Commission announced its own hearings into mobile handset exclusivity, and let's not forget the Google Voice debacle. Considering recent announcements by FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski, it's possible the FCC's intention to enact a net neutrality policy could threaten AT&T's exclusive iPhone status.

Is Apple Stuck with AT&T?

So will all the customer complaints, media criticism, and government inquiry prompt Apple to dump AT&T? It's possible, but perhaps the iPhone could simply run on additional U.S. carrier networks.

Verizon doesn't show much interest in the iPhone, especially since it is working on its own applications store instead of allowing default access to stores run by handset manufacturers like Apple. It's very unlikely the phone would appear on the Palm Pre-friendly Sprint, and T-Mobile is probably too small (now) to handle the network demands of heavy iPhone use. So without an able and willing partner, the iPhone might be stuck on AT&T's network regardless of the public desire for a second carrier.

What do you say? Are Americans simply stuck with AT&T or will Apple work its way onto one of the other networks?

Orange to Sell iPhone in UK; will US Exclusivity End Next? - PC World

[cellular_freak]

It would be nice if there were more options. AT&T coverage in my area is not good at all. If Apple decided to partner with T-Mobile, that would be a wash for all of us in rural America because T-Mobile's network is largely limited to urban areas and we would still be stuck with AT&T. I would really like to see a CDMA version released just like any other phone out there. I don't understand the criticism of "oh, but most of the world uses GSM so it just doesn't make sense." To me, that's bull because almost every phone that's extremely popular, like the RAZR used to be, has a CDMA variant. Here in America, CDMA is the coverage king, especially those of us in rural areas. We would definitely benefit from a CDMA iPhone if it became available on a carrier like Verizon.

[bobolito]

The problem is CDMA has its days numbered and no company is going to make a major investment into creating something like the iPhone for CDMA networks which in a couple of years the carriers will be focusing on LTE upgrades. Maybe back 5 years ago it would've made sense for Apple to come up with CDMA and GSM versions, but we are on the verge of an upgrade to LTE that even CDMA carriers are going to adopt. So it doesn't make much sense to make CDMA iPhones for a couple of years, only to scrap it and then launch the LTE version. Yes there are great CDMA smartphones still coming out, but those are not projects that started the other day. They started several years ago and what you see is the evolution of an existing investment. Take for instance the RAZR. The RAZR saw many different variants during its evolution, so Motorola got a good return on that investment. With the iPhone, it would not be an evolution because Apple would have to start from scratch to develop a CDMA iPhone. It's not just a matter of changing the chips in the phone. A lot of software has to be rewritten, a whole new phone designed because the whole board will be different, and all that just to scrap it in a couple of years in favor of LTE. I think they rather wait a couple of years more, skip CDMA and go all the way to LTE.

[Simon5282]

Originally Posted by bobolito

..... I think they rather wait a couple of years more, skip CDMA and go all the way to LTE.

I completely agree with. I will add one more thing. Apple will NEVER admit it. They will keep the CDMA thing in back of everyones head to keep the ATT deal lucrative for them. I doubt that ATT will call their bluff because the iPhone has helped the companies bottom line.

[cheddar]

I'd bet money that Apple has at least a bare bones CDMA iPhone in the labs... if only to keep pressure AT&T. It wouldn't be the first time they've done things like that.