French telecom regulations threatened to keep the iPhone 3G out of France last year, and it looks like French telecom authorities are attacking the iPhone once again. More correctly, regulators are attacking Orange’s exclusivity deal to sell Apple’s iPhone 3G in France. The French Competition Council has ordered France Telecom’s Orange to terminate its exclusive iPhone distribution deal with Apple, citing French regulations pertaining to competition and pricing.
Bouygues Telecom, one of France’s smaller wireless carriers, filed their complaint against Orange last September. The complaint sparked an investigation by the French Competition Council, freezing Orange’s iPhone deal until the Council makes its decision. Until the investigation wraps, Apple is prohibited from entering into any other exclusive deals with wireless carriers. It’s unclear how the Council’s investigation into the Orange-Apple deal will affect iPhone sales in France.
Orange will appeal the Council’s ban. Meanwhile, Bouygues Telecom hopes to offer the iPhone to its customers in the near-term.
[Via: iPhoneAtlas]