After Apple’s lawyers presumably spent many nights awake looking for looholes, they finally gave in and recognized that Apple needs to sell an unlocked version of the iPhone in France, because in Frenchland, carrier exclusivity is a no-no. Apparently, Apple’s lawyers did not find the same to be true in Germany, where Deutsche Telekom (i.e. T-Mobile) was awarded the iPhone exclusivity contract. Now, rival carrier Vodaphone has taken T-Mobile to court, receiving a temporary injunction to prevent sales of the iPhone.
Naturally, T-Mobile is appealing, but I’m keen on the drama coming out of the carrier exclusivity decision Apple has made, because they only people it’s helping are those with the big wallets at Apple and the respective exclusivity carriers. Consumers and rival carriers, meanwhile, don’t get to base their decisions on what really matters: who has the best rate and feature plans”.