Appletell

Orange, the exclusive iPhone carrier in France, has admitted to capping their 3G download speeds after receiving many complaints from users and several customers comparing speeds to other European countries. iPhone users on the T-Mobile network in Germany were repeatedly receiving download speeds of over 1800kbps, whilst those on France’s Orange network were struggling to reach 400kbps. Orange’s technical support lines were jammed with calls of slow speeds, and in some cases the support technicians voluntarily renamed the Access Point Name and other variables to increase download speeds. These customers reported speeds in excess of 3mbps.

Details after the break.

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Orange, the carrier of the iPhone in Poland, is apparently not very confident that the iPhone will drum up big lines on this second iPhone launch today, August 22nd. It has decided to hire actors to stand in a line outside of 20 Orange stores, waiting for the iPhone, to “drum up interest.” Apparently, prospective buyers in Poland are reluctant to pay heavy monthly charges, and so Orange has opted to go the fake customer route.

I have a few questions…

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Orange is one of the UK’s leading networks, along with O2—who are currently supplying iPhones to customers in the UK. A report from this morning reveals that Orange may join O2 in providing the UK with iPhones; perhaps as soon as October this year. If this were to go ahead, it would be the first country where more than one network carried the iPhone.

Electric Pig, a fairly reputable tech news website in the UK, published the claims of the website Omio who have spoken with a “very, very credible source on the inside that the iPhone 3G will be available on Orange in the UK, possibly as soon as October.”

Orange is already the selected carrier for the iPhone in France, Austria, Belgium, the Dominican Republic, Egypt, Jordan, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Switzerland and Africa.

Adding an extra network carrying the iPhone in the UK could boost sales of the device, especially if Orange were to bring more competitive pricing plans than O2. It will be interesting to see what happens as Apple increases their demand for a secure market share everywhere in the world.

Via [Macworld UK]

A report has it that the French iPhone distributor, Orange, has been offering its customers who have previously purchased the iPhone a trade-up deal for old handset with the newer iPhone models once it is available. Orange was said to be calling customers encouraging them to trade up to the new version of the iPhone. One trade-up deal was even offering a discounted price of 50 euros for the 3G iPhone in exchange for the “old version.”

Although Orange has not yet confirmed the report, it is still also unknown whether this is going to be a permanent arrangement in marketing the iPhone, or just a temporary promotion to encourage users to shift to the newer models of the iPhone. If indeed true, this is the first time that an Apple partner will be offering a subsidized model that rewards Apple instead of splitting monthly service revenues between Apple and its partner.

Now, if Orange pushed through with this plan, and consumers take the offer, the question is what will happen to the returned iPhones? Will Orange offer these iPhone on a refurbished deal? Or will they go somewhere else? If you would recall, Apple has already announced the release of the iPhone in Asian countries despite the scarcity of iPhone supplies in the US. We could not help but wonder if this is all part of a bigger Apple plan.

Via [Electronista]

France Telecom spokesman Bertrand Deronchaine said that Orange will be the exclusive iPhone provider in Belgium and Romania, with co-exclusive or non-exclusive deals in other countries. Deronchaine declined to offer more details about the arrangement. So far, Apple has made exclusive deals with AT&T Inc. in the United States, O2 in Britain, T-Mobile in Germany and Orange in France for its iPhone.

Apple plans further expansion in the iPhone market later this year through its partnership with Mexico City-based America Movil SAB, the top mobile phone operator in Latin America. The company announced earlier this month that it plans to bring the iPhone to all of its Latin American operations.

The announcements in deals and partnerships with other cellular operators will help Apple meet its goal to sell 10 million iPhones by the end of this year.

Via [Yahoo! News]

After sealing a distribution agreement with Asian telecom company Singtel and Swisscom of Switzerland, Apple has sealed another distribution agreement for the iPhone, this time with Orange, the exclusive provider of the iPhones in France. Interestingly, whereas it was not indicated whether the iPhones to be distributed in the Asian market is the 3G model or the non-3G ones, for Orange it was clearly stated that the 3G iPhones will be the models to be sold in the European countries. The agreement between Orange and Apple will expand to other European countries, the Middle Easy and some parts of Africa.

The two companies have also agreed that Orange shall be the sole distributor of iPhones in Belgium and Romania, while for other European countries including the Dominican Republic, Egypt, Jordan, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Switzerland and as well as in some African markets, Orange will either have co-exclusive or non-exclusive deals with other local telecommunications companies. This is in addition to other distribution deals that Apple has agreed upon with America Mobil for the iPhone’s distribution to Latin America and Vodafone for Australia, the Czech Republic, Greece, Italy, India, New Zealand, South Africa and Turkey.

Meanwhile in Italy, Telecom Italia mobile has snagged the distribution of the iPhone to the Italian market and Rogers has it in Canada.

Via [Apple Insider]

We’ve heard numerous rumours about a 3G iPhone, not just here at Appletell, but all over the blogosphere. Turns out none of those rumours are true, or we haven’t seen an outcome yet. But does 3G really matter? Is it the turning point between you buying one or not? Sandy Gomo, Director of Product Management for Pantech Wireless, seems to have a simple explanation for it. Basically, can give you download speeds faster which would be must needed for the iPhone Apps. A 3G iPhone would run about 600-1400 kbps, while a EDGE iPhone would run about five to six times slower. So for things like streaming video, surfing the web and downloading music would be much faster.

“With 3G networks, the potential for advanced mobile phone functionality is enormous. At its core, 3G is full of possibilities.” - Sandy Gomo, Director of Product Management for Pantech Wireless tells Erik Price

So why hasn’t Apple used 3G on the iPhone yet? Must be coming soon… why not, would only bring up sales.

Are you waiting for a 3G iPhone?

Via [Mac Life]

Orange France, the authorized carrier of the iPhone in France, just confirmed that roughly 14% of all the iPhones sold in France are unlocked. These other iPhones were either not used for the iPhone aspect or used on other networks. Orange didn’t say exactly that 14% of the iPhones users were on their network, but they pointed out that 86% of the iPhones are sold with their pricing plan, while the rest were sold without a contract with the network. They also pointed out that they hit the 90 000 mark of iPhones sold. 90 000 doesn’t honestly sound like quite alot, but the British carrier of the iPhones says that the device is their “fastest selling device.” They did however hesitate to say how many they did sell.

Do you think Apple is on track for their goal of 9 million iPhones for this year?

Via [Pocket-Lint]

iPhones are selling very well in France, according to these statistics: Orange has sold over 70,000 iPhones in just the first month of sales - which sounds considerably better than what we’ve heard of the iPhone in the UK from O2. O2 haven’t publicized any statistics of iPhone sales in the UK yet which presumably means they are not good. Around the UK, the word on the street is “iPhones are too expensive - don’t buy them”. The contracts are ridiculously overpriced compared to those in the USA.

O2 expected to sell 200,000 iPhones by the end of this month and they claim to be “in line with expectations”. But I won’t believe it until official statistics can prove it. Orange appears to be happy with the iPhone in France, they expected to sell between 50,000 and 100,000 - they sold 70,000. And even though the Orange iPhone can be bought without a contract restricted to Orange - 82% of buyers went for the iPhone-specific plan. The unlocked phones did sell, too, but fewer than 3,500 customers chose to buy them, most likely for the higher price tag of €999.

Via [Macworld UK]

For those of you in Europe who want an iPhone, now’s your chance. Expect O2 in England, Orange in France, and T-Mobile in Germany to be carrying these phones sometime soon, as the Financial Times believes that Apple’s shaken hands with these three mobile providers.

The only thing I’m wondering is, how much is data going to cost, seeing as current EuroData is pretty expensive. Apple is expected to officially announce these new partnerships sometime within the next couple of weeks, so we’ll see what happens.

Oh, and Europe, remember to wash your pants.

Via [Financial Times]