MacBlogz – One Stop Apple News - Bridging the Apple Community and Keeping Tabs on the Rumor Mill.

Apple Forced to End iPhone Exclusivity in France

A ruling made on Wednesday by the French competition regulator mandates that Apple will now be forced to allow mobile operators other than France Telecom’s Orange SA, to carry the iPhone.

This decision will overturn the exclusivity contract that allowed Orange to be sole carrier of the device in France. The country’s third largest mobile operator, Bouygues Telecom SA, had issued a complaint with the regulator over the exclusive arrangement between Orange and Apple. This order is being treated as a protective measure while the regulator checks the validity of the claim.

BusinessWeek notes that a statement from the competition regulator maintains that this matter poses a “serious and immediate threat to competition in the mobile telecommunications sector and increased costs for mobile phone users who sought to change operators.” Rival carrier Bouygues Telecom, had fittingly welcomed the regulator’s decision and are anxious to begin selling the popular device.

The ruling is said to take effect by Thursday of this week, in hopes that customers will be able to purchase the handset from both Bouygues Telecom and the country’s second largest outfit, SFR, owned by France’s Vivendi SA. France Telecom had noted their intentions to appeal the decision stating, “it places France in a radically different position” than Britain, Germany and Spain, where Apple has also struck exclusivity deals.

Yet the council insists that the 5 year contract with France Telecom is “clearly excessive” and threatens “serious and immediate damage to competition on the mobile market and to consumers.” Apple is yet to make any official statement surrounding the matter.